Ave Imperator
by EndlessVacuum
Summary: Nunnally has always wished for a gentle world, free of war and suffering. Lelouch has always wanted to make that world a reality, and now that Charles is dead and Britannia is without a leader, the Black Prince has the means to fulfill his sister's wish. It is time for a new emperor to ascend the throne and change the world!
1. The day a new Emperor was born

**I do not own Code Geass. I only own any original characters created by me.**

**~ ~ ~ AVE IMPERATOR ~ ~ ~**

**~ Chapter 1: The day a new Emperor was born ~**

_**[Kamine Island – 24th June 2018 a.t.b.]**_

Lelouch watched absently before him as his feet led him to the exit. C.C. and Suzaku behind him, without uttering a word. He had just completed his long-awaited revenge, that bastard of his father was dead...and he had also been joined in death by the one who, once upon a time, the former prince was proud of being able to call 'Mother'.

In a sense, his entire family (excluding the countless brothers and sisters he had) was dead. His father, his mother, his little sister Nunnally and even his 'little brother' Rolo. All dead because of his revenge, one way or another, and a lot of other people had died with them.

Now it was all over and Lelouch felt...empty. What was waiting for him now? The Black Knights were his enemies after his brother Schneizel had convinced them to betray him and Lelouch was certain that the silver tongued snake had other cards to play.

However the regicide had no time to even think about that, he had to think of more imminent problems, such as...

"Lelouch."

...such as dealing with one of his biggest problems.

"What are you going to do?" Lelouch slowly turned to the Knight of Seven "You killed your father and stopped his plan, but what will you do now?"

"I'd like to do a lot of things...but that's not something that concerns you." said the former prince with a cold voice before walking away, followed by C.C. who was wary of the knight, only to be stopped by his former friend. The Knight of the Round was glaring at him with his sword raised, ready to strike.

"You killed Euphie." hissed Suzaku, his green eyes burning with hatred "She was the love of my life...and you took her away from me."

"You did the same with Nunnally." Lelouch's retort carried with it even more hatred "You killed her with that inhuman weapon, which took the lives of millions of people. Your hands are stained with blood as much as mine, Sir Kururugi."

"And now they will be stained with the blood of one more person." Suzaku lowered the tip of his blade, with the clear intention of piercing Lelouch's heart "This will not bring Euphie back to me, but it will ensure that you cannot bring further chaos into this world!" and without waiting for an answer, he attacked.

A large amount of blood was sprayed into the air as his sword found the flesh.

However it was not the flesh of his target. Both Lelouch and Suzaku were shocked to see the sword pierce C.C.'s left forearm, with the witch who didn't even flinch before she moved her arm outward, causing the brown-haired boy to lose his balance. Without giving him time to react, she hit him with the palm of her right hand to his chest, knocking the air out of his lungs, before following with a spinning kick to the right temple, which made Suzaku fall to the ground, unconscious. Lelouch could only stare at her wordlessly as she removed the sword from her arm, throwing it to the ground.

"My patience has a limit, boy." she glared at the downed soldier "And you've exceeded that limit too many times."

Without another word, she grabbed Lelouch by a wrist and dragged him out of the cave and then stopped to observe the outside. The former prince did the same but grimaced when he saw that the clashes outside had by now completely ceased. Well he could not expect much from mindless drones without a real commander to give them orders, not to mention that now the Black Knights didn't even seem willing to fight against Schneizel, given the proximity of the airships.

He shook his head '_My brother now controls them too, and yet I shouldn't be surprised..._'

"Still thinking about your soldiers?" asked C.C. looking at him with a calm face.

Lelouch shifted his gaze toward her and then her wound, which was still bleeding. After a moment of silence, he tore off a sleeve from his jacket and, much to C.C.'s confusion, he bandaged her wound, in a rather professional way.

"You know that I don't need things like this, do you?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that I like to see you bleed." Lelouch retorted, making a small knot to keep the bandage still.

"Oooh? Do you mean to say that you worry about me now?"

"I made a promise, remember?"

C.C. was silent for a few seconds, looking for a way to answer. Damn it, she was supposed to be the one to put Lelouch in trouble, not the other way around! Finally she succeeded in formulating a sentence, while also sounding indifferent to the subject "Well I don't think you've made much progress with that promise."

The immortal expected an exasperated or even angry response from Lelouch, but instead the boy pulled her towards him and she felt something warm pressed against her lips. It took her almost two seconds to realize that Lelouch was kissing her but before she could begin to appreciate it, the boy ended the kiss, before embracing her against his chest.

"Do you think that, as progress, it is acceptable?" asked Lelouch, the smirk almost palpable in his voice "I remember the promise and I'm not going to break it. The smile that you have always deserved, I will make it a reality, but first I must know...will you stay with me? Even if we had the whole world against us?"

He pulled away slightly so he could look into her eyes and her her answer. C.C. simply raised one hand, caressing his face "You fool." she smiled "The world is already against us and I'm still here, so you should already know the answer. But if you really need a confirmation..." standing up on her toes, she caught his lips in another kiss and this time they both managed to appreciate and enjoy it. It lasted only a few seconds, but for them it was more than enough to strengthen their bond. When they separated, Lelouch embraced her again and C.C. returned the gesture "What are you going to do now, my warlock?"

"Well my witch, first we need to reach the Shinkirō. It's a long journey from here to Pendragon." said Lelouch with a small smile on his face, walking toward the place where he had hidden his Knightmare Frame.

"Pendragon?" C.C. was actually confused now "Why?"

"Charles is dead, Britannia is without an emperor now. It is only a matter of time before the whole world learns about his demise; it also depends on what Schneizel will do." explained Lelouch and the immortal witch could hear the smirk in his voice "However, such a large empire will need a leader...and as far as I know, an emperor cannot miss his coronation."

* * *

_**[Pendragon – 28th July 2018 a.t.b.]**_

Nobles from all over Britannia were gathered in the throne room, summoned to the capital by an official order from His Majesty the Emperor, according to which the ruler of the empire would have announced something of extreme importance to his court after a month of complete silence.

Since he had ascended the throne, Charles zi Britannia, had never been absent for more than a few days and his disappearance had caused quite a stir among the various Britannian nobles, and his trusty knight, Bismarck Waldstein, and the Prime Minister of Britannia, Schneizel el Britannia, were also missing. Obviously there were also many other members of the royal family who were absent, but most of them were justified as army officers, such as Cornelia and Marrybell, or because they were engaged elsewhere in political matters, such as Pollux, Castor and Laila.

The whispering of the various nobles was suddenly interrupted when a guard tapped the floor with a ceremonial spear three times "Presenting His Royal Majesty, the Emperor of Britannia!"

All the nobles eagerly awaited the arrival of their sovereign, but instead of his heavy steps, they heard light and calm footsteps and, after a few seconds, someone who was _not_ the emperor appeared from behind a red curtain beside the throne, shocking everyone present. A face that many hadn't seen for years had reappeared before them and that boy, whom everyone considered dead, sat on the emperor's throne, with a satisfied smile.

Lelouch vi Britannia had returned home.

Slightly loosening the collar of his uniform, the young prince looked at the faces of many of those nobles, remembering how they had laughed at him when, years ago, he had been thrown away as garbage by his father. Oh they had no idea how he had decided to take revenge on them.

"L-Lelouch...?" his violet eyes immediately found the origin of that hateful voice, his half sister Carine, one of the few relatives that Lelouch had always hated "Is that really you?!"

"Yes, your eyes are not misleading you, dear sister. I have returned, and I am ready to begin my reign as the 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire." said Lelouch with a smirk "After all, with the dead of Charles zi Britannia, a new leader must be chosen...and since I was the one to kill the man, by the rites of conquest, I am the new Emperor of Britannia."

His words froze everyone, both in the throne room and in the rest of the world.

"W-What are you talking about?!" Guinevere looked at him with shocked eyes "Our father is dead?!"

"Yes. That man died by my hand." in theory the previous emperor had died in somewhat surreal circumstances but Lelouch preferred to ignore that detail, just as he ignored the indignant and outraged screams of the nobles. However, none of them tried to stop him or remove him from the throne '_Typical nobles without backbones...they will probably send someone to do what they want, as usual._'

"GUARDS!" his sister Guinevere's voice overwhelmed that of everyone else "I order you to arrest that murderer!"

'_As I was saying..._' thought Lelouch with the grin still on his face as several guards rushed towards him, ready to strike him with their weapons, but unfortunately for them he was not alone.

Like a bolt from the blue, a shadow descended from above and struck their weapons with a single move, breaking the shafts of their spears. As the blades hit the ground, a single orange eye glared at the guards with uncontrollable hatred "How dare you raise your blades against His Majesty! If you care about your life, you will immediately cease all forms of violence, because otherwise none of you will escape the ferocity and loyalty of Jeremiah Gottwald!"

All the nobles in the front row took a step backwards, frightened by the almost palpable rage in the cyborg's voice as he went to take his place at the right of the new emperor, who chuckled a bit before gesturing toward his follower "Probably many of you already know it, but for everyone else...I present to you Jeremiah Gottwald: dear friend, personal knight but above all captain of my royal guard."

When those words left his mouth, the huge doors of the throne room were opened from the outside and many of those present were convinced that other royal guards would come in, ready to take away the madman who had sat on the throne, yet their hopes were thrown out of the window when a dozen black-cloaked figures entered the huge hall. They were all threatening, wearing a mixture of medieval armor and avant-garde military armor, complete with a black cape and a helmet with a cross-shaped visor. Without saying anything, those twelve shadows walked towards Lelouch before standing in front of him, turned toward the nobles.

As one being, they drew their swords before pointing them down and resting both hands on the pommel of their weapons.

"We serve His Royal Majesty, Lelouch vi Britannia!"

Lelouch could only grin upon hearing those words. After reuniting with Jeremiah, he had spent several weeks tracking down elite soldiers around the motherland with the sole purpose of creating his own group of guards. Most of them had needed an 'incitement' to become his faithful servants while the others, incredibly, had decided to follow him voluntarily. The new emperor had only later discovered that those soldiers were actually devoted servants of his mother and were therefore honored to be able to serve her son.

"Lelouch, please!" said boy looked down at his older brother Odysseus "This is too much! Doing such a thing on an international broadcast is absolute madness!"

"Madness?" repeated Lelouch, raising from his throne with one hand over his face "If this is really what you think, dear brother, then let me show you how this is actually what the empire needs. Now, acknowledge me as emperor!"

"Lelouch, you must stop now or-!" Odysseus' words died in his throat when he saw Lelouch's eyes shine with the Geass symbol clearly visible in them and, like him, everyone else saw those cold eyes. Their minds had no way of resisting his order and, in a few moments, all the nobles, members of the imperial family and the guards who had tried to attack him now had hands on their hearts and fanatical smiles on their faces.

"We hear and obey, Your Majesty!" they chanted in unison "All Hail Emperor Lelouch!"

"ALL HAIL EMPEROR LELOUCH!"

"ALL HAIL EMPEROR LELOUCH!"

'_I like the sound of those words._' thought Lelouch allowing a small grin on his face while standing in front of the throne, where he admired his new loyal supporters with a satisfied look. His satisfaction grew further when, raising a hand, the whole hall fell silent, ready to hear his words.

"All men are not created equal. These are words that my predecessor has uttered on more than one occasion, and despite all his faults, Charles zi Britannia was right. In this world there will always be the strong and the weak..." his eyes suddenly became hard and cold "But so what?! Does this mean that the strong have the right to do what they want with the weak? I say no! If it weren't for the weak, the strong would never have arrived where they are now! If there were no servants, the nobles would not even be able to wear a pair of shoes! If there were no workers, factory owners could not earn their much desired money! If there were no soldiers ready to die for their homeland, the commanders could not win even the simplest of battles!

"This dull and backward ideology of the strong that devours the weak has no place in an ideal world, a gentle world like the one that my late sisters, Euphemia li Britannia and Nunnally vi Britannia, wished for! Under the dominion of my late father, this empire has known nothing but war and death! Those days are over! It is time for the strong to work together with the weak to build a better world!"

Lelouch raised a fist to the heavens "Together we will build our future, where wars and famines will only be a distant and sad memory! To all the weaklings of this world! To all those who are tired of the endless wars that contaminate our world! To all those who only want peace! Rise and be ready, because your moment has arrived!

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

The entire throne room trembled when all the people present, both Geassed and not, echoed his words, signaling to the whole world that a new era had just begun.

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

"**ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!**"

Their voices resounded in that huge room for several seconds, while the whole world remained frozen after seeing what had just happened. In the areas controlled by Britannia, many began to wonder what would change, while those who still resisted Britannia were very wary, since Lelouch was the son of Charles, the one who had made their lives a living hell.

Finally, Lelouch sat on the throne again as all the nobles began to leave the hall along with the first guards who had tried to attack him. In a few seconds only he, Jeremiah and his royal guard remained, but then C.C. came out from behind the red curtain like he had done earlier, carrying a small wooden box with her.

"Did you find it?" asked Lelouch as she sat on his lap, holding out the box.

"Yes, I still can't believe that in all these years nobody has found your secret hiding place." said the witch with a smile.

The new emperor picked up the box before opening it, revealing that it was a well-made travel chessboard with all the pieces inside a small drawer on the side of said chessboard. Holding the white king, he smiled "Only Nunnally and I knew about that place, and this was the first gift Schneizel gave me."

Lelouch slowly placed the chessboard on the right arm of his throne and made to position the white king on the opposite side to him, but then stopped.

'_If I really want to become an emperor loved by people...I have to change my style._' thought Lelouch before placing the white king on his side of the chessboard, followed by a trusted bishop to the right of the king (Jeremiah) and finally a beautiful queen to his left (C.C.).

"What about the other pieces?" asked the witch, looking at the chessboard with a raised eyebrow.

"For now I don't have other pieces." explained Lelouch while positioning the black ones on the opposite side "Tomorrow, after some absolutely necessary interventions, I will have to start looking for noteworthy soldiers who can become my new Knights of the Round." he looked at her with a smile "Are you interested?"

C.C. snorted before stealing a quick kiss "As if. I will content myself with being your empress."

Lelouch shook his head with the smile still on his face before moving the white king forward. After that opening move, he looked ahead as if someone else were sitting there, ready to play.

"Your turn, Schneizel."

* * *

_**[Toromo Agency's Base (Argentine) – 28th July 2018 a.t.b.]**_

"An impressive opening move, Lelouch, no doubt about it." Schneizel smiled at the small screen where his brother's speech was being repeated "Now that you're back, we can start our game...but will you know how to live up to expectations, now that you've entered the major league?"

Lelouch knew that one day they would face each other, Schneizel was certain about it, but what he probably didn't know was that his reign would last very little. Pressing some keys on a small keyboard, Schneizel made the replica of the speech disappear and two twins with light blue hair appeared on the screen.

"Pollux, Castor, is everything going according to the plan?"

"Yes brother." nodded the first twin with a grin "I think we will be able to get started within a month."

"That's good to hear." Schneizel then looked at the other twin "And what about the resources?"

"We're sending several loads to your base right now, including some prototypes that might come in handy." explained Castor with a small smile "However I can't help thinking...when you'll put your plan in motion, won't it be too risky to draw all the attention on us?"

"Fear not, Castor." the White King reassured him "When we will make our move, Lelouch will be forced to make a choice that will inevitably lead to his defeat. One way or another."

"I can't wait! I bet our sister Cornelia is calling for blood!" said Pollux with a cruel chuckle

"You can say that, and she's not the only one." commented Schneizel thinking about the various Knights of the Round who had followed him "Frankly speaking, I don't think Lelouch will have many possibilities. His intellect cannot save him forever."

Castor chuckled for a moment "You know, if you think about it, it's funny."

When he saw their confused looks, he showed an evil grin like the one of his brother.

"We are the Britannian Imperial Family and yet...we're going to start a Revolution!"

* * *

**~ Next Chapter: Changes in the world ~**

* * *

**A.N.: Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. This is my second fanfic but I will try to update both of them as fast as possible (I do not guarantee the regularity of updates due to my work).**

**1) Most importantly, for this fic I was inspired by 'His Britannia' but I had permission from the author (Imperator's Slave) to write it. If you don't know his fic, I suggest you go and read it.**

**2) This fic will obviously be an AU and I will try to add also 'Akito the Exiled' and 'Oz the Reflection' in the mix, however I warn you that I watched Code Geass years ago, so some things that happened in the story...I don't remember them very well, let's put it like that. Forgive me for my oversights.**

**3) This will be a SYOC fic! I can create one or two new and original characters but then I start to be repetitive, so I would like your help! I mainly need OCs for the Knights of the Rounds. If you are interested in participating, write in the review the rank of your Knight (EXCEPT KNIGHT OF THREE, THAT IS FOR A FRIEND) and I'll send back the OC sheet. I'll write on my bio some rules (which will be on the sheet too) and the 'taken' list for the KotR.**

**[[[[[ALL SPOTS TAKEN!]]]]]**

**I really hope that you will give this story a chance and that you will follow it in the future.**

**I hope to see a lot of reviews but above all, a lot of OCs (Small warning: I will decide if your OC is okay, even if you're the first to review the fic it does not mean that your OC will be put in the story).**

**That's all for now, may your day be perfect.**


	2. Changes in the world

**I do not own Code Geass. I only own any original characters created by me.**

**~ ~ ~ AVE IMPERATOR ~ ~ ~**

**~ Chapter 2: Changes in the world ~**

_**[Pendragon – 15th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

The leader of the Holy Britannian Empire awoke from his sleep by slowly opening his eyes, yawning silently while scratching his head with one hand, ignoring his longer than usual hair. At his side, someone moved into the huge bed and from under the white silk covers appeared a mop of long green hair. A small smile formed on Lelouch's lips as he stroked C.C.'s head, making her purr like a cat.

'_And now C.C. is just an old name to her._' he thought, thinking back to when, five days after his coronation, he had introduced to the whole empire his First Empress, Cera ci Britannia. It had taken several hours to convince her to choose a name other than 'C.C.', but in the end Lelouch had succeeded and now he and his witch were officially together.

In the following days, both he and C.C. had started a campaign to renew the empire and, first of all, Lelouch had abolished the Area System. All the states conquered by Britannia had regained their name, their uses and customs, and the local population had obtained rights equal to those of any Britannian, causing Lelouch to become well-liked by the citizens of his empire, and while he was busy chewing and ridiculing the most radicalist nobles who didn't want to support a brat like him, C.C. was committed to appearing at many public events (especially pizza tastings) to make herself better known to her new subjects and, like Lelouch, she too soon became loved by the lower social classes.

His plunge into the memories of the previous days was abruptly interrupted when his bedroom door was opened without any hesitation. A man in his sixties, but with a well-toned body and perfectly kept gray hair and beard, dressed in a black butler suit entered and after a few steps he bowed to Lelouch "Good morning, Your Majesty." then he approached the curtains and moved them away with a single movement of his arms, flooding the room with sunlight, earning a brief curse from the emperor "Today is a wonderful day, the sun is shining and there are no clouds. Breakfast is being prepared right now, so you have time for a refreshing shower. After breakfast you have several commitments that require your full attention."

"Thank you...Sebas..." groaned Lelouch looking at the ceiling with a blank expression.

"It is just my duty, Your Majesty." nodded Sebas before walking toward the door, only to stop at the last moment. Turning back to the bed, he bowed again "Again, good morning Your Majesty, and good morning to you too, Lady Cera." that said, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Tell me again why you chose him as your personal butler..."

Lelouch smiled "For various reasons, first of all he is loyal to duty and was also a strong opponent of my father in all areas. I didn't even have to use my Geass to convince him to serve me." he then looked down to see the half-glare of C.C. who was trying to be intimidating.

"I know...but I wish he were more...respectful of our privacy..."

"Afraid that he might notice your white lace underwear?" asked Lelouch with a small chuckle, making her blush a little "Don't worry, his dedication to duty prevents him from thinking about things other than our well-being, and then reminds me a lot of Sayoko...I'm sure they'd get along."

She looked at her husband "Is there any news about her?"

"Unfortunately no..." Lelouch sighed for a moment "She's still alive, I'm sure of it...but even having survived the damn bomb she certainly won't have come out with only a few scratches so it's likely she's in a hospital or hidden somewhere while she regains her strength. I have communicated to several agents in Tokyo to search in all the places that have welcomed wounded and displaced."

"Good idea...better to find it before the Black Knights. If I remember correctly, Kallen also saw her in action so she could raise the alarm if she saw Sayoko." hummed C.C. before asking "You never told me what you intend to do with them. After all, they know about your alter ego, Zero."

"Until they do nothing harmful, I will leave them alone, since I have many things to look after now, including tracking down and imprisoning Schneizel and all those who follow him." Lelouch shrugged before showing a little grin "Besides, I think that from now on they will have several things to think about if everything goes according to plan."

C.C. looked at him with a raised eyebrow "What are you plotting?"

"Well...let's say that one of the Britannian representatives in Tokyo was contacted about an agreement between the Black Knights and my brother, according to which, if they delivered Zero to him, the Prime Minister would 'liberate' Japan from Britannian rule, no strings attached." said Lelouch with the smirk still on his lips "So I decided to send a reliable person to conclude the negotiations."

The First Empress seemed to catch his thoughts and a grin very similar to his formed on her face "You're really evil, my warlock."

Lelouch kissed her briefly "I try, my witch. I try."

* * *

_**[Tokyo (Ikaruga) – 15th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

A pleased sigh escaped from Kallen's lips as she lifted a leg in her bathtub, watching the soap bubbles pop upon contact with her skin. One of the advantages of being the ace pilot of the Black Knights was that her room was bigger than the others and, more importantly, she had a private bathroom with a bathtub.

'_I still can't believe it..._' thought Kallen while washing her arms '_Lelouch had created the Black Knights to defeat Britannia...and now he is the leader of that empire._'

When, eighteen days before, she and all the Black Knights gathered on the bridge of the Ikaruga had witnessed her usurpation of the throne, they had been shocked (and not a few of them completely terrified). Lelouch had then gained the support of the whole royal court, but those who were aware of his Geass knew that he had controlled them with his power. Many of the Black Knights, and even her for a few days, had thought that Lelouch would start a new campaign of conquest, instead he had acted in the opposite way, preferring to speak of peace, destroying monuments to war and punishing nobles who had tried in vain to oppose him.

The fact that now Japan had returned to being such, while remaining a Special Area of Britannia, had led many Japanese to support him even though Kallen was aware of some recruits who, acting secretly, tried to undermine the credibility of Lelouch, inventing stories about him and the entire royal family. Kallen personally thought they were fools and would report them to someone like Tohdoh and Xingke, but she didn't feel like talking to any of them now, not after they betrayed their leader. Obviously she had gone in the wrong when she left Lelouch, although it was under his request, and that had made the relationship between her and the other members somewhat unstable.

'_Maybe I should have stayed by his side...at least I would have died with a clear conscience..._'

"BANZAI!"

"Wha-?!" a sudden wave of soapy water almost risked drowning her and, while the red-haired girl stirred in the bathtub spitting soap and water, a second girl giggled at her side.

"You were daydreaming again, Kallen-nee-chan." said the newcomer with another giggle, earning a glare from the ace pilot.

"Benio...what are you doing here?"

Benio was a girl a little shorter and younger than Kallen, with long brown hair tied in two side pigtails and eyes of the same color and she was wearing the Black Knights uniform.

She was also Kallen's 'adopted' little sister.

"I tried to knock and call you, but you didn't answer so I decided to enter! The others sent me to call you from the bridge, apparently the Britannian ambassador is about to arrive to talk about the agreement made with Schneizel!" said Benio with a smile, dodging the sponge that Kallen had thrown at her.

Upon hearing her words, Kallen seemed to calm down but a frown was on her face "Do the others really hope they will get what Schneizel promised us?"

Benio tilted her head with a confused look "Are you not of the same idea?"

"Of course not. Whatever they may have discussed with that bastard, it was decided when he was still a prince of Britannia, but as you know, he, Cornelia and other members of the imperial family have been branded as traitors and are sought after all over the world." explain Kallen while grabbing a bathrobe, while Benio hastened to take her a clean uniform "So I doubt very much that they will get what was promised."

"I see..."

Seeing Benio's sad face, Kallen couldn't help but feel sorry for giving her that bad news, but a bad truth was always better than a good lie. Shaking her head, she put on her uniform before putting a hand on her shoulder "Hey maybe I'm wrong and they could actually respect the agreement, just...don't hope too much, okay?" when she saw Benio nod, she added "On another subject, how's your training going?"

The younger girl seemed to find the good mood with that question and showed a radiant smile "It's going good! Kagari is helping me a lot and now my sync rate with the Red Burai is 79%!"

Kallen smiled as she heard about Benio's progress. The Red Burai, so renamed by Benio, was none other than her old red Glasgow that had undergone improvements, turning it into a Burai with extra accessories. Kallen had entrusted it to Benio when she had decided to enlist in the Black Knights and had taken the new recruit under her wing to teach her all the tricks possible in piloting a Knightmare Frame.

"That's good to hear! Now, let's meet this negotiator and hope everything goes well." said Kallen before walking out of her room, only to find herself in front of two young girls with foreign traits. Both had black hair, but the first one wore a pair of glasses along with the Black Knights uniform, while the second wore Indian clothes under a white coat.

"Good morning, Kallen." said the one with the coat, showing a friendly smile "How are you?"

"Neha, good to see you." Kallen smiled back at one of the best engineers available to them "I'm going to the landing bay, seems like the negotiator from Britannia is about to arrive."

"Really? What for? It's not that they will give us back Japan, now that Schneizel is a criminal." grumbled the girl with the glasses while shaking her head.

Neha looked at her "You could at least be a little optimistic, Kagari."

"I will be optimistic when there is reason to be. Right now, the odds are too low for us." replied Kagari with a shrug before following the others toward the landing bay, where the rest of the Black Knights' core members had already gathered. Kallen went to sit on some nearby crates, not at all intending to talk to the others, along with Benio, while Kagari and Neha went near Rakshata, who was comfortably seated on a sofa. Sometimes Kallen wondered if there were actually dozens and dozens of sofas scattered around the Ikaruga just for her.

While they settled in waiting for the negotiator, the other members were intent on talking to each other, even if someone in particular was already on the verge of exasperation.

"Damn it, why is it taking so long?" whined Tamaki looking around "And why the hell do we have to talk to this guy? Schneizel promised us Japan, didn't he?"

"Calm down, Tamaki." Ohgi looked at him with a small smile "Even if he promised us, I don't think it's a thing that can be decided with a snap of the fingers. This meeting is just a simple formality, I'm sure of it."

Most of the others seemed to agree, however Kallen couldn't help but roll her eyes. Sometimes her friends were terribly blind and above all stupid. It almost seemed like they were trying in every way not to think about the fact that now the former White King was one of the most wanted persons in the world. Most likely they hadn't even thought of it when Britannia had contacted them to talk about this agreement and, at Kaguya's suggestion, they had invited the negotiator aboard the Ikaruga as a sign of good faith.

Their attention was soon drawn to the sound of some sirens announcing the opening of the bay and, within a few seconds, a Britannian shuttle landed nearby, immediately joined by ten Vincent Commander Model, all painted black with golden and white details (clear sign of their belonging to the royal guard of Lelouch) and the appearance of those Knightmare Frames made all Black Knights members stiffen. However, they relaxed when they saw the ten machines turn off their Float System and kneel on the metal floor. The shuttle's door opened with a loud hiss and more royal guards poured into the bay, arranging themselves in two rows to welcome the negotiator.

'_If they are all members of Lelouch's royal guard...he must still have several at his side...it would make no sense to deprive himself of his bodyguards for such a meeting..._' thought Kallen feeling a strange sensation of discomfort in the stomach. Something told her that the negotiator was not the classic political without a backbone, but someone much more dangerous.

She was proven correct when a figure stepped out of the shuttle, watching the small crowd with a smile that threatened to turn into a sneer at any moment.

Despite the general shock among the Black Knights, Kallen could distinctly hear a single word echoing in the air and, surprisingly, it was Villetta Nu who pronounced it.

"Jeremiah...?!"

* * *

In all honesty, Jeremiah Gottwald was fully satisfied with his life at that time. After all he had been through, from the death of Lady Marianne to the experiments he had undergone to become a cyborg, life had finally returned to smile at him. He had finally found the son of Lady Marianne, swearing eternal loyalty to him, and had remained by his side as he became Emperor.

The captain of Lelouch's royal guard couldn't have asked for better, now his life really made sense and he would serve his Emperor until the end of time. The fact that Lelouch had given him full control over his royal guard was a source of pride for Jeremiah, who had preferred to take only a small part of the guards with him for this mission that had been entrusted to him by Lelouch himself.

When he read the documents relating to this meeting with the Black Knights, Jeremiah had failed to control the evil laugh that had risen up his throat. If it hadn't been for the fact that the Vincents, despite their improvements, couldn't travel from the motherland to Japan at full speed without exhausting their energy filler, Jeremiah would have arrived two hours ago.

But now Jeremiah was there, aboard the Ikaruga, and from the height of his position, he could observe the shocked faces of the Black Knights smugly. Oh how he would have enjoyed that mission!

Calmly and gracefully descending the steps of the shuttle ramp, Jeremiah stopped a few meters from the small crowd, staring at Kaguya Sumeragi before making a slight bow with one hand on the chest "Greetings, Lady Sumeragi. I assume you will be conducting the negotiations on behalf of the Black Knights."

Recovering from surprise, Kaguya nodded before bowing out of respect "Your assumption is correct, Lord Gottwald. Would you like to wait a few minutes before starting negotiations?"

"Oh no, don't worry. We can start right away." said Jeremiah with a small smile "How would you like to proceed? Have you already prepared a room and any witnesses?"

"But of course. If you agree, most of the Black Knights' core members will attend. In your case your guards may be present." said Kaguya before gesturing toward a door "We have already prepared a room for the occasion."

"Very well. Lead the way then." nodded Jeremiah with the royal guards following him without removing their fingers from the rifle's triggers. Within minutes they were seated in a large conference room, with Jeremiah seated at a table and his guards sitting in a kind of tribune behind him, while Kallen and the others sat behind Kaguya.

"Now then..." Kaguya picked up a stack of sheets of paper "Shall we begin?" when Jeremiah nodded, she passed the papers to him "We took the liberty to put on paper the details of the agreement that had been proposed to us by the former Prime Minister of Britannia, Schneizel el Britannia. There are also my signature along with those of other leaders from U.F.N.'s member nations."

The captain of the Emperor's guards said nothing, calmly reading every single word written on those papers and, from the slight rumbling behind Kaguya, it was clear that his slowness was corroding the patience of some of the Black Knights. Personally, it wasn't something that concerned him. His job was to complete the negotiations and Lelouch had clearly told him how far he could go and what compromises they were willing to make.

After fifteen endless minutes, Jeremiah put the papers on the table and looked at Kaguya with an impassive gaze "I have to admit that you have covered every single detail, even the most insignificant ones, however..." that pause seemed to put everyone on the edge "...the agreement you made with the previous Prime Minister is null and void. It has no value, neither on paper nor by voice."

"WHAT?!"

Kallen watched with vaguely surprised eyes as some of his companions were brought back to order by Tohdoh and Xingke after their outburst, while Kaguya remained motionless, showing no emotion on her young face.

"What do you mean that it's null and void?!" shouted Chiba with venom in her voice "We had a deal!"

"I would like to point out that this is an agreement that has never been finalized by both parties." the cyborg's voice was calm and emotionless, but Kaguya could pick up the hidden amusement in it "Furthermore there are two focal points that you missed: first of all, Schneizel el Britannia is considered a traitor by my Emperor, therefore all the agreements managed by him were considered null or put in a state of hold; second, it is likely that you do not know it, given how you have interpreted the entire agreement, but the Britannian Prime Minister does not have the decision-making power to be able to 'liberate' an entire nation under the rule of Britannia."

The look of horror and shock on their faces was a joy for his heart, and he still hadn't dropped the real bomb.

"There is only one person in the whole empire who can make such decisions and this person is the Emperor himself. Not even the Empresses can boast such political power."

In the minutes to come, Jeremiah observed with ill-concealed interest as the various more vocal members of the Black Knights swore at him and against Britannia, while the others tried to restore order in the room. There were also those who seemed foreign to everything that was happening, such as Kallen and Kaguya.

'_They had probably already guessed that it would end like this._'

When the silence was finally restored, it was the Chairwoman of the U.F.N. who spoke first "So, Japan is still under Britannia's rule?"

"Yes." no reason to deny the obvious "Even with the introduction of the Special Areas, this territory is still under the jurisdiction of the Holy Britannian Empire." when he saw that, behind Kaguya, the Black Knights were about to protest again, the captain raised a hand "However, my Emperor is a fair and honest man, so he stipulated conditions for Japan's independence."

Kaguya heard someone mutter about how Lelouch was anything but fair and honest, but she preferred to ignore those words "And what would these conditions be, Lord Gottwald?"

With a smile that promised nothing good, Jeremiah put his hand in the jacket of the uniform and pulled out a sheet of paper folded in three. He opened it slowly and, although she couldn't read the contents, Kaguya saw through the paper a large seal in the lower right corner.

'_Which means that Lelouch has already given his consent for these conditions..._' thought the young girl before focusing back on Jeremiah who was about to speak.

"The conditions for the 'release' of Japan by Britannia are as follows: first, if the negotiations are successful, all Britannian citizens will have a year to leave Japan, so as to find new homes for them in the motherland or in other Special Areas."

Kaguya nodded almost immediately, it was a more than reasonable request given that there were several Britannian in Japan, even after the F.L.E.I.J.A. bomb was deployed.

"Second, if Britannian citizens did not want to leave Japan, they will not be forced to abandon the nation, but will be left in peace and will not be hindered in any way during their life on Japanese soil."

The young politician thought about it for a few seconds, but finally nodded. After all, there were also Britannian people who had created a new life in Japan, so it would have been cruel to drive them out without a valid reason.

"Third and final condition..." here, Jeremiah's smile widened and Kaguya prepared for the worst "The Black Knights must yield to the Holy Britannian Empire: the Ikaruga airship, the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight Elements, the Zangetsu, all the Akatsukis, Meigetsus the Akatsuki Command Models in their possession."

Despite her predictions, Kaguya hadn't prepared for the worst...

"What...?"

"YOU'RE JOKING, RIGHT?!" Tamaki almost leaped at him "In exchange for Japan, you want practically all our Knightmare Frames?!"

"In a few words? Yes." nodded Jeremiah without losing his smile.

"You fucking bas-GUH!" a quick and strong nudge from Villetta prevented him from finishing the sentence while Tohdoh stood up, staring at Jeremiah with suppressed fury.

"I hope you know that this request is extremely outrageous. If we gave all our machines to you, what would prevent your empire from conquering Japan again?"

"Nothing, but my Emperor just wants peace and has no plans of conquest in mind." said Jeremiah with a light shrug and basically everyone could hear the 'For now' omitted from the Britannian cyborg.

"Lord Gottwald." his attention returned to Kaguya "Is there any way to change these conditions? The first and the second are easily acceptable, but the third is really an unacceptable request."

"But of course." the former leader of the Purist Faction nodded with a smile "We can accept the Ikaruga and the Guren, and you can keep all the rest."

Kaguya grimaced a bit "That's still too much."

"I'm afraid that this is the limit of maneuver that has been granted to me, Lady Sumeragi." said the man with a calm voice "The number of units that would remain to you would still be quite high."

And he was right. Several things had happened since Lelouch had been betrayed by the Black Knights, but the new Emperor still remembered, the offensive capacity of the group he created and, if they hadn't decided to sleep or waste time, they had already filled any holes with brand new machines.

Kaguya knew this well and, if Lelouch wanted to get rid of the Black Knights without unnecessary bloodshed, removing all their Knightmare Frames from the game was a good move. However, she couldn't consent to such a request, especially since the Black Knights were now the fulcrum of the U.F.N.'s army. Losing both the Ikaruga and the Guren was the last thing they could afford.

With a sigh, Kaguya shook her head "I'm sorry, Lord Gottwald, but I can't accept these conditions."

"If that's the case..." Jeremiah rose slowly, with the royal guards immediately behind him "I regret to inform you that the negotiations end here. I will return to Pendragon to warn my Emperor of what happened today."

Without waiting any longer, he left the room ignoring the scandalized screams of some Black Knights and headed for the hangar where his shuttle was waiting for him. Without even trying to hide it, he let a wide grin form on his face '_Everything went as you had planned, my Emperor. Now that they have been denied what they wanted, there is a high possibility that they will resort to extreme methods and that will be the perfect time to eliminate them without looking like bloodthirsty monsters and to make the world understand that your Britannia is completely different from that of the previous Emperor!_'

While the faithful knight of Lelouch was heading towards his airship, the chaos had returned to reign in the conference room but one person in particular ignored everything.

'_We betrayed Lelouch...for nothing...now we are at the starting point...but without a leader and with a huge crater in central Tokyo..._' Kallen felt the urge to scream and vent her anger on the first unfortunate person next to her, but she restrained herself when she realized it wouldn't solve anything. With a sigh, she stood up and grabbed Benio's arm before dragging her toward the exit "Come on, let's go and train a little, I want to make sure your sync rate increases before tonight."

"Uh? What's wrong Kallen?" asked Benio following her surrogate sister with a confused look on her face.

"Nothing, it's just that...I have a vague feeling that your first real fight will take place sooner than you think...and I don't like it at all..."

* * *

_**[Toromo Agency's Base (Argentine) – 15th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

"So Lelouch sent a negotiator to negotiate with the Black Knights? Surely he asked for something absurd in exchange for Japan, and I think that the negotiations did not go well, given that no major troop movements have been reported to Japan." said Schneizel looking at a small screen, where was shown one of his spies who had remained in Tokyo.

"We're still trying to find out, my Lord."

"It's not a problem. Whatever they have decided will not slow down our plans." the former prince smiled without a care in the world before cutting off the call. After that, he looked at the other occupants of the room "As you have heard, the situation between Britannia and the Black Knights does not seem to have changed. We can proceed with the preparations for our entry into the game."

"Damocles is not ready yet, brother. Wouldn't it be better to wait for some time before proceeding?" asked Cornelia with a raised eyebrow, but it was Diethard Ried, one of the latest additions to their group, who answered her question.

"Damocles is just a means to end all wars, Princess Cornelia. Thanks to the Toromo Agency's funds, we have access to a large amount of Knightmare Frames and we can proceed so as to force Lelouch on the defensive, giving us the time necessary to complete Damocles."

"I know that." she growled at him "What I want to know is how such a plan could force Lelouch to be on the defensive for so long. We all know what he is capable of. As Zero has managed to create chaos and disorder with just a group of rebels, I don't even want to think about what he could do now that he is the Emperor of Britannia!"

"Don't worry, sister. Everything will be explained shortly...indeed, I would say it's time to go. We have a conference to attend after all." said Schneizel without losing his charming smile before walking out of the room, followed by a confused group of knights, except his loyal subordinate Kanon who merely rolled his eyes.

The White King led them into a large room, usually used for large meetings, and sat down on a wooden throne, while Kanon went to talk to some technicians who were arranging some cameras.

"Brother, what are you-?"

"Sister, please, could you position yourself to my right?" asked Schneizel with the smile still on his face "While you, Sir Bismarck, on my left."

The two exchanged a confused look, but then did as requested, while Schneizel ordered the other Knights of the Round (now all considered criminals) to position themselves in a certain way and, in a few seconds, everything was ready with Cornelia, Nonette, Dorothea and Monica on his right, and Bismarck, Suzaku, Gino and Anya on his left, all wearing the uniform of Britannia.

"We're ready when you want, my Lord." said an operator raising his hand, while several lights were turned on and pointed at Schneizel, leaving the others in a shady area.

"I'm not so arrogant as to think I can face Lelouch and his Britannia with the soldiers we have now. You're right, sister, it would make more sense to wait for Damocles to complete if we had no other alternatives, but we have one." explained Schneizel looking at her "And now I'll show you how, in a few words, I'll be able to solve many of our problems."

Schneizel then nodded to Kanon who made a gesture to some operators and the cameras were all turned on. The smile on the lips of the blond prince suddenly became sharp and cold.

'_Here is my answer to your opening move, Lelouch. How will you react?_'

* * *

_**[Berlin (Reichstag) – 15th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

"Why don't you want to attack?! The moment is propitious! Now that Charles is dead and Schneizel has been considered a traitor along with the Knights of the Round, Britannia no longer has anyone able to stop us!" shouted a man with a strong French accent, slamming a fist on the big ring-shaped table, where he and many other people were sitting, all dressed formally.

"Just because they don't have those monsters on their side anymore doesn't mean we can deal with them! Britannia is superior to us both numerically and technologically!" replied a woman with a pointed glare.

"We can still attack them and kick them out of our main cities! Don't we have those new Knightmare Frames with us? Those so-called Alexander?" the Frenchman looked around and saw that some representatives of the few remaining nations of the E.U. agreed with him.

"We have too few to be able to attempt a full-scale confrontation. Furthermore they would not be enough to make us win, we need something more if we want to even hope to reject Britannia once and for all." answered an old man with a Spanish accent "The only thing we can do is watch carefully the new Emperor and see what he will do, since for now he has decided to stop any form of conflict against us."

His words led to silence, while the various representatives of the few remaining nations in the E.U. pondered how to act. When Lelouch ascended the throne, he had ordered the ceasefire on all fronts and had his troops withdrawn. Obviously he had not abandoned the conquered nations, but he had nevertheless put an end to a long series of conflicts that had been born under the dominion of Charles zi Britannia, then continued by his son Schneizel el Britannia. These decisions had influenced the civilian population that had therefore begun to support him, even though they were not part of Britannia. It was a situation in which the various representatives would never have wanted to find themselves, because attacking Britannia would have made them pass as the 'villains', but to stand and watch wouldn't have allowed them to reconquer their homes.

"Then what should we do?" asked the Italian representative with a tired look.

"I may have a solution for that."

All those present turned to the doors of the room that had just opened, where there was a man in military uniform, with grey eyes and dark green hair. The German representative observed him for a few seconds before asking "General Smilas, what would your solution be?"

The general showed a small smile, before approaching the huge table and stopping behind one of the few empty chairs "While some of you seem to oppose the idea of starting a new conflict with Britannia, I know that you all want to bring our people back home...and to do that we have to force out the invaders from our lands. Even with the change of Emperor, such an undertaking would be almost impossible...without the right means."

"Can I assume that you have these right means?" asked the representative from Italy with a raised eyebrow.

"More or less. I regret to admit it, but without external help we can never hope to win by ourselves." replied Smilas with a calm look before sitting down.

The French minister almost growled at him "You're not talking about the U.F.N. and the Black Knights, are you?"

"Oh no, of course not." Smilas smiled for a moment waving his hand "Those greenhorns may also have declared war on Britannia in the past, but they are still children compared to us and therefore we will not ask for their help, especially after many nations, once part of the E.U. have joined them."

His point of view seemed to calm many of the representatives, yet the words that followed had the opposite effect "And that's why I spent the last few days trying to contact someone who could give us an advantage over Emperor Lelouch, someone who fought against us for a long time."

At that moment, the big four screens in the conference room lit up and the various representatives were shocked to see the smiling face of "Schneizel?!"

"Greeting, representatives of the E.U." he bowed his head slightly "I present myself to you on this fateful day, not as an enemy, but as a possible ally."

"You?! An ally?!" the French representative glared at Smilas "_He_ is your solution?!"

"I know that my words are not appreciated by many of you, but I would like to point out that right now we have an enemy in common...and if we decide to join forces, we can easily emerge victorious from a possible conflict." said Schneizel with the smile never fading from his face "I'm obviously talking about Lelouch, my little brother who killed my father."

"You are saying this only because now you are no longer a prince of Britannia and you fear for your life!"

"I fear for my life, yes, but I fear even more for the world. Do not doubt, my brother will not remain like this forever. Sooner or later, a new war will begin and then all your attempts at victory will be in vain." said the White King "What I propose is an alliance between you and me, so that we can defeat Lelouch and bring the world back to peace."

"Peace? Bah, you're just looking for excuses! What guarantees us that you will not try to betray us at the first opportunity?! Besides you are alone, how could you ever help in a war with Britannia?!" shouted a representative while Smilas looked at this with an amused smile.

"I have no way of promising you that I will not betray you, but I give you my word that, if you decide to help me, not only Europe, but also all of Africa will come back under your rule, while Britannia will never try to conquer your territories again. After all, that was an idea born of the mind of my father, the previous Emperor, and I was never a supporter of wars. Those who remember me will already know it." said Schneizel, forcing them to consider his words. After all, many nations of the E.U. had fallen before him but without losing a soldier thanks to his diplomatic skills.

"While regarding your second question..." the view seemed to widen and new lights came on next to Schneizel, showing Cornelia, and the various Knights of the Round who had sided with the former prince, to the various representatives "I'm not alone, I've several soldiers under my command and my brother, Pollux and Castor rui Britannia, are with me. We can help you, dear representatives. You just need to trust me."

The various politicians looked at each other before the representative of Germany asked for a few minutes to discuss it in private. When the screens were turned off, they started talking to each other, weighing the pros and cons in joining up with Schneizel and his Knights. Smilas remained silent during all the time, occasionally sending some messages with his cell phone, after all he already knew what they would decide. After about twenty minutes, the connection with Schneizel was reopened and his smile seemed to be sharper and colder than before but that little detail was ignored.

"We have discussed and reached a decision." declared the representative of Italy "What exactly do you propose?"

"As you may have noticed, Lelouch stopped any conflict and did it for one reason: being able to review his troops and re-deploy them according to his preferences." explained Schneizel with a calm voice "From personal experience, I can assure you that he is a genius among geniuses. Few are those who can stand up to him, such as my sister Cornelia and me, and it is better to act before it is too late."

"And how would you like to act, exactly?"

"It's simple. We must prevent him from playing according to his rules and his rhythms and to do so there is only one way."

His smile widened slightly, sending chills down the backs of the representatives.

"We need to attack first."

* * *

_**[Pendragon – 15th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

"This won't do..." groaned Lelouch dropping a series of documents to the ground, to be precise the complete profile of one of the army commanders. The entire floor of his personal office was covered with sheets of paper, as was his desk, and there were two huge columns of documents by his side. On the couch to his left, C.C. was reading another series of files before throwing them to the ground with a sigh; same story for Sebas, who was sitting in one of the office chairs with a pair of small glasses on his nose.

"This is taking forever, Lelouch..."

"I know Cera, I know..." sighed Lelouch rubbing his eyes "But we have to examine all these documents, I'm sure there is someone suitable to become a Knight of the Round...and by now I have lost count of supposed geniuses that have been recommended by their families..."

"Perhaps you should change your approach, Your Majesty." said Sebas looking at him "Maybe looking for those who stood out in the last conflict with the E.U."

"Already done, and even if I found some possible candidates, they are not enough to cover all the places left empty by the previous Rounds." Lelouch then picked up another file and, after reading it, he raised an eyebrow "Well...this is interesting. Ash Collenor, heir of the Collenor family, graduated with honors from the Boston Academy but then never joined the army despite all possible recommendations."

"I wonder why..." said C.C. looking at him from the couch with half-interested eyes.

"From what is written in the medical report, it is because of his body. Among other things he had also requested to be tested by some of the previous Rounds, but my father refused because someone with such a weak body should not even think of becoming a Knight." said Lelouch with a frown.

"That sounds like Charles, no doubt about it."

"In that case, it seems fair to give him a chance. Also a break will do us good." Lelouch then looked at Sebas "I want this Ash to be contacted and invited to the Camelot Laboratories where his piloting skills will be tested."

"At once, Your Majesty." said Sebas before leaving the office.

"Are you sure about this, Lelouch?"

"Yes, my father was someone who thought that the weak should have no right but I am not him and I will give a chance even to those who have been rejected by him." explained the new Emperor with a firm voice.

"What about those guys who were recommended?"

"Those nobles never even grabbed a gun, Cera..."

The immortal witch giggled "Fair point, my love."

* * *

An hour later and the imperial couple was inside the Camelot Laboratories, the new playground of one Lloyd Asplund. He and his assistant, Cécile Croomy had arrived at Pendragon a few days after Lelouch's coronation and, much to his surprise, had reported that they would work for him. The young Emperor had been shocked by this news and had also thought that they could be two spies, but his wife had assured him that neither of them was lying, so he had decided to accept their services.

Lloyd was immediately put in charge of the scientific and technological division of Britannia, succeeding in a few days to devise new gadgets for the army and had also set to work on the personal machines of Lelouch and C.C.

"Ah Your Majesty! What do I owe the honor of your presence? If it's because of your personal Knightmare, unfortunately you will have to wait a few more days." said Lloyd with his usual smile.

"It's not about that, Lloyd. You have Knightmare simulators installed here, don't you?" asked the Emperor to which the Earl nodded happily.

"But of course! Sutherland, Gloucester, Vincent and even a simulator for my Lancelot! Do you need one of them, perhaps?"

Lelouch nodded "There is a guy who could be a possible Knight of the Round. I want to see what he is capable of."

"Oh how interesting!" Lloyd looked at his assistant "Cécile, prepare the Lancelot simulator! If he really is a possible Knight it is right to use the best stuff right away!"

As the young woman went off to prepare all the necessities, Sebas arrived at that moment, also announcing the guest. Lelouch, like the others, was slightly disappointed to see a young boy, slightly taller than him, with white hair and eyes as red as blood. He was using a walking stick and it was clear that he was very weak physically, yet his face showed no signs of weakness.

When he was in front of the Emperor, he knelt promptly "Your Majesty, I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for this opportunity. When I learned that you yourself had shown interest in me, I couldn't believe it."

"You're Ash Collenor, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Then stand up, Ash." said Lelouch with an authoritative voice "As you well said, you are here because I decided to give you an opportunity to show me how much you are worth." he gestured toward Lloyd "He is my chief scientist, he designed the infamous Lancelot and all his weapons. He also owns a simulator of that Knightmare and you will use it for your test."

"I would be honored to be able to participate in such a test, Your Majesty." Ash looked at his Emperor with fiery eyes "When can I start?"

"Right away, my dear boy!" said Lloyd with a huge smile "It's time to collect some data!"

While the albino was taken to a locker room by the mad scientist, Lelouch went to sit next to his wife and sighed "Well I guess there's not much to expect from him. I'm sorry to say this, but he doesn't seem like an ideal candidate for a Knight."

"Said the one who had the stamina of a sleeping sloth." replied C.C. with a grin, making him glare at her, though without any hatred behind that look.

"Not anymore! I've been training!"

"Oh I know, our battles under the blankets showed it to me." said the witch, making him blush "At least you gave him a chance, didn't you? We just have to wait for the results."

"Yeah, you're right." nodded Lelouch '_Although I don't think he will surprise me..._'

* * *

"I'm sorry...what?"

Lelouch was surprised. No, scratch that, he was downright shocked.

"It's like I said, Your Majesty." said Cécile with a nervous look "Ash has a 100% synchronization rate with the Lancelot. We have triple-checked the data and there is no doubt."

Lelouch looked at the form of Lloyd, currently bound and gagged to prevent him from jumping on the albino, and then back at his assistant "This is...incredible..."

"What about the bad news?" Lelouch looked at his wife who merely shrugged "What? There is always bad news."

"About that..." Cécile looked away for a moment "He can fight...for just a minute..."

"...what?" he was becoming repetitive, he was aware of it, but he couldn't help it "How can it be?"

"His body is too weak." explained the woman with a sad smile "If there is only need to move the Knightmare Frame, Ash can do so without any time limit, but as soon as a fight begins, he can hold out for only a minute before collapsing. It seems that his lungs and heart are extremely weak and therefore he has almost no stamina. Unfortunately, maneuvering a Knightmare also requires a lot of physical effort."

"I see...and there is no way to help him? With a surgical operation maybe."

Cécile shook her head "I'm sorry, but that's not a possibility. A heart and lungs transplant would be too much for his body and he would risk dying during the operation. With the current level of medical technology we could think of something else, but we certainly can't replace the internal organs."

'_Damn it...fate really seems to be making fun of me. Ash turned out to be a great candidate, but his body wouldn't allow him to fulfill his duties...especially in battle._' Lelouch looked at said boy, who was sitting not far away, with an oxygen mask on his face.

And then, it struck him.

'_Wait...medical technology...replace internal organs..._' a huge grin slowly formed on his lips as he walked toward Lloyd, before removing the adhesive tape from his mouth.

"Your Majesty! He's perfect! A perfect rate sync!" shouted the scientist with bright eyes "I can't lose him! He's a perfect device!"

"I know Lloyd, I know...however his body is too weak to continue." said Lelouch before adding, with the grin still on his face "Tell me, how much do you know about bio-mechanics and mechanized prosthesis transplants?"

His words seemed to surprise the scientist who then showed a grin equal to that of the Emperor "I would say that I know enough, Your Majesty, and you have just teased my attention."

Unbeknownst to them, a cold shiver ran down Ash's back.

'_I don't know why...but I have the impression that something will happen to me...even if I can't say what..._'

* * *

**~ Next Chapter: New pieces on the board ~**

* * *

**A.N.: Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed this second chapter. We had the chance to see, briefly, one of the first OCs: Ash Collenor and in the next chapter we will see more of him along with other OCs who were sent to me! Speaking of new characters, I inform you that Neha, Kagari and Benio are NOT fictional characters, but actually exist in the Code Geass universe (even if in a spin off manga). Sebas, on the other hand, is based on Sebas from Overlord (I just love that butler!)**

**I would like to communicate to all those who have asked to participate, but who have not yet sent their characters, to send them anyway. If they turn out to be good OCs, I will think of something for them.**

**As I said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope to read many reviews!**

**That's all for now, may your day be perfect.**


	3. New pieces on the board

**I do not own Code Geass. I only own any original characters created by me.**

**~ ~ ~ AVE IMPERATOR ~ ~ ~**

**~ Chapter 3: New pieces on the board ~**

_**[Pendragon (Camelot Facility) – 18th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

It was with a loud groan that Ash slowly opened his eyes, closing them immediately because of too much light in the room. After a few seconds, he tried again to open them and this time he managed to get used to the brightness, noting how the ceiling, the walls, the curtains on the windows were completely white as fresh snow.

"Where am I...?"

He tried to move his head and felt a strange feeling of discomfort at the base of the neck, as if his muscles were so rigid that he could not move at will. Slowly, he managed to sit up and only at that moment he noticed the various needles embedded in his right forearm, all connected to several IV drip hanging next to his bed.

"Am I in a hospital? Why...? The last thing I remember is..." Ash suddenly stopped in mid-sentence when the memories of three days before resurfaced in his mind.

XXX

_Lelouch was in front of him, wearing his white and golden Emperor's clothes, and at his side was his wife. Ash was wearing only a pair of boxers, thus showing his lean physique and ruined by some scars but still athletic and with a hint of muscle._

"_You still have a chance to change your mind, Ash. If you decide to continue, your life will be in danger and there is no certainty that the surgery will be successful." said Lelouch with a calm but firm voice, staring at the albino who merely nodded once._

"_I wish to continue, Your Majesty. You have given me the opportunity to demonstrate my abilities, and now you are offering me a way to become a worthy knight of Britannia. If I decided to pull back now, I could never look at myself in the mirror without feeling disgusted."_

_Lelouch nodded back "Very well. The captain of my royal guard is a cyborg, and has been modified by a secret scientific department created by my father." Ash looked at him with surprised eyes. He had simply thought that Jeremiah had a particular interest in masks like the one that covered his left eye, but he would never have imagined that Lelouch's faithful knight was half machine._

"_A lot of research and ideas from that department were lost when the Black Knights attacked one of their main bases." here he ignored the giggle from C.C. "However, we managed to recover some projects related to what was done to Jeremiah Gottwald, also thanks to a series of tests and analyzes on his body we were able to understand the enhancements his body underwent."_

"_But they were terribly trivial and boring, so I decided to make some small changes!" said Lloyd, suddenly appearing behind Ash with his assistant, both wearing medical gowns._

"_Lloyd, remember not to overdo it. This is not about Knightmares or airships." Lelouch warned him with a stern look but the scientist didn't seem fazed by said words._

"_Worry not, Your Majesty." the Earl of Pudding looked back at Ash with a smile "I can't waste such a perfect device so I'll be extra careful!"_

_Lelouch sighed in exasperation but finally decided to go back to the possible candidate for the Rounds "Are you ready?"_

_Ash straightened his back before bringing his hand to his heart and bowing "Yes, Your Majesty. I'm ready for the surgery."_

"_Excellent! Then, follow me please!" Lloyd didn't wait for an answer and walked along the corridor, along with Ash and Cécile. After a few seconds, they entered a large operating room where there were other doctors and various machines that Ash had never seen in his life. The albino lay down on the operating table in the center of the room and immediately after, an oxygen mask was placed on his face._

"_Ash, we will now inject you with sedatives so you will fall asleep in a short time." said Cécile appearing in his visual field. The boy nodded and felt a sensation of discomfort in his right arm, where they had punctured him with the needle. As his vision slowly faded, he saw for a moment Lloyd open a small metal box and take out a glass cylinder filled with something bright and above all pink._

_'Sakuradite...?'_

_The sight of that precious mineral was the last thing he saw before sinking into darkness._

* * *

"If I'm here...does that mean the surgery was successful?"

His attention was then drawn to the door as it was opened by Cécile, who noticed the boy with a surprised look "Ash! You're awake!" she quickly approached some screens next to her bed and began to read the various vital signs "It seems that you are well, all values are normal."

"What happened? The last thing I remember is that you were anesthetizing me before the surgery." asked the albino, still feeling relieved that there were no apparent problems.

Cécile looked at him with a small smile "The surgery was a success. It lasted over twelve hours and then you were asleep until today, three days have passed if you want to know." she then picked up a small cell phone "But perhaps it is better to call Lloyd here, he will explain everything to you."

It took hardly two minutes but in the end the genius scientist entered the room almost breaking the door, immediately receiving a slap on the head from his assistant for his behavior.

"Oooooh so you're finally awake!" Lloyd began to scrutinize Ash carefully "From what I see there were no side effects, but I imagine we will be sure after some tests. Are you curious to know what you are capable of now?" the albino could only nod hesitantly (for some reason the scientist made him uncomfortable) "Splendid! Cécile, be a dear and go get my personal laptop!"

With a sigh, the woman went to retrieve what was requested and a few minutes later, the laptop rested on Ash's legs. Lloyd typed some things and several images of a human body appeared on the screen, from the skeleton to the muscles and even the internal organs.

"Let's start with the most consistent changes." with a simple click, the images changed and now, the left arm had been replaced by a completely black mechanical prosthesis with small pink neon lights scattered over it. Ash observed those images for a few seconds before shifting his gaze to his left arm and only then did he realize that, all the scars caused by a car accident when he was younger, had disappeared.

"You've probably already figured it out, but now, from the shoulder to the fingertips, your left arm is completely mechanized. From the tests we conducted before the surgery, it turned out that the humerus, the radius and the ulna were full of micro-fractures, so we decided to replace the entire limb." explained Lloyd with a small smile "We have connected the nerves of your body with the latest generation receptors and, since you are moving your arm without any difficulty, I would say that everything went well."

Ash lightly touched his new arm with his right hand and was surprised to find that, upon contact, it looked like a normal arm and, despite being mechanized, it didn't feel so heavy.

"The skin we used to coat your new arm is made of silicone and other materials used mainly in biology. Appearance is simple skin, but much more resistant. However, if you wanted to, we could remove it." added Cécile standing on the other side of the bed "Furthermore you will not see any scars due to surgery thanks to a serum that improves the regeneration capacity of the skin."

"The second, great improvement is this." Lloyd showed Ash a photo of his own back after the surgery and the albino widened his eyes in shock when he saw a black spine-armor, black as his new arm "I apologize for the crude appearance and the fact that this enhancement is currently 'out' of your body, but we couldn't replace your entire spine, so we simply installed an electromagnetic pulse accelerator."

"A what...?"

"Electromagnetic pulse accelerator, also called E.P.A. if you wish." Cécile tapped her head with a finger "When you want to perform an action, an impulse starts from the brain and travels along your body until it reaches the receptors used for that action. With the E.P.A. these impulses travel faster, allowing you slightly faster reaction times. It was originally created for seventh-generation Knightmare Frames but eventually the project was discarded and reconverted for use on people. Moreover, in case of damage to your spine, this device will help you move."

"It also has a little secret but you will find out in due course." added Lloyd with a dark chuckle before being slapped again by Cécile.

"The third improvement concerns your belly." she tapped something on the laptop and some images of what looked like bulletproof vests appeared on the screen, although Ash immediately noticed that they were different from the classic military equipment "To put it simply, we added a layer of this material under your skin in the belly area. While the chest is protected from bumps by the rib cage, internal organs such as small intestine and large intestine are exposed to many types of trauma. With this 'cover', any damage caused by shocks will be reduced by at least seventy percent, and it will also protect you from small arms. I know it's not much, but we couldn't go further for fear of damaging your body irremediably."

Ash waved both hands in front of her "No no, you have already done a great deal for me. If it weren't for you, I'd probably still be a simple guy with an extremely weak body."

"Speaking of that..." Lloyd pointed again at the screen "For the final improvement! Now your heart and lungs won't give you any more problems!" an image of a small black device with a pink light in the center appeared on the screen "This little gem is connected to your lungs and your heart, as well as your left arm and your Electromagnetic pulse accelerator. It allows a better functioning of your internal organs, thus guaranteeing a longer duration when piloting a Knightmare. Its source of energy is Sakuradite, the same thing for Jeremiah's upgrades, but fortunately it only needs to be recharged once a month. The only small flaw is that, to install it inside you, we had to remove a part of your stomach."

Ash was stunned by the explanation and tried to take deep breaths, marveling that he had no difficulty breathing. He was almost ready to cry, but he shook his head and bowed to Lloyd "Thank you, for everything. I owe you and your assistant for helping me."

"Ah don't think about it." Lloyd waved him off "After all, you're going to help with something else. Please follow me."

Ash seemed confused by his words but, after removing the needles from his arm with Cécile's help, he followed the scientist out of the room. The three walked for a few minutes until they reached a large hangar full of workers, mechanics, scientists and many other people.

'_So this is not a hospital._' thought Ash looking around '_No wonder Lloyd came so fast when I woke up._'

"Here we are." the voice of the bespectacled scientist brought him back to reality and saw him point to his left with a huge smile. Looking in that direction, Ash stiffened completely and, despite the new device inside his body, he had the impression that his heart had just skipped a beat.

"Although it is not complete, this is the MGR-273 Raiden." Lloyd's smile was pure and sincere, yet Ash couldn't hold back a shudder as he heard his next words.

"Please, say hello to your new body."

* * *

_**[Pendragon (Royal Palace) – 18th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

"Are you nervous, Your Highness?" asked Oldrin Zevon, faithful knight of princess Marrybell mel Britannia, as they walked the corridors of the huge palace in the center of the capital.

The princess turned to her with a nervous smile "You can say that, Oz. Although several days have passed since Lelouch returned, I still don't know how to talk to him."

"Can't say I don't understand you. Your little brother returned from the grave, saying he had killed your father and then took over the throne. Not exactly something to laugh at...maybe." said a calm male voice to her left.

Oldrin stared at older boy with a light glare "Be careful what you say, Casval."

The aforementioned boy, though taller than her, raised his arms in surrender, keeping the serene smile on his face "Easy there, I didn't want to offend anyone, let alone our leader."

Oldrin's green eyes remained fixed on Casval's blue ones for several seconds, but in the end the girl sighed, shaking her head "Why are you even here?"

"Because princess Marrybell said so." he chuckled for a moment before looking ahead, running a hand through his messy blond hair "Besides, I'm curious to meet this new Emperor. The fact that he is your age puts me almost in embarrassment, as if I were not worthy to talk to him."

"Don't worry, even if Lelouch seems changed, I don't think he will judge you." Marrybell reassured him with a small smile "Now behave yourself, we have arrived."

Ahead of them was a large wooden double door, flanked by two soldiers armed with halberds, but something seemed strange and it was Casval who gave voice to his doubts "This is not the throne room..."

"I know." Marrybell took a few steps forward and, after greeting her, the guards opened the doors, announcing her arrival "Lelouch invited us to lunch."

Oldrin and Casval looked at each other for a moment before following her inside the room, which was actually a dining room with a rectangular table and several chairs in the center. The table was already laid and there were several dishes ready to eat, but the real protagonist of that room was the Emperor himself, who was walking towards Marrybell with a smile on his lips.

"Marry! It's been so long!" said Lelouch before hugging his half-sister, much to her shock "I think the last time we talked was a few weeks before my exile."

"Yes I guess you're right, Your Majesty." she honestly didn't know how to respond to such behavior, certainly didn't expect much affection "I'm glad to see you're okay." and heck if he hadn't put on some muscle. From her distant memories, Lelouch had always been of slender build, almost as much as a girl, but thanks to that embrace she had been able to feel that, under those royal clothes, her half-brother had decided to get in shape.

"No 'Your Majesty' with me, especially in private. There are no cameras and things like that, so there is no need for formalities." said the Emperor with a smile before gesturing toward the table, where his wife was already sitting in front of a large steaming pizza. With a sigh, Lelouch looked at her "Cera, could you at least pretend to be interested in meeting my sister?"

"I've already met some of your sisters, so I'm fine. Now hurry up and sit down, I want to eat this pizza before it gets cold." C.C. waved him off without taking her eyes away from the pizza.

Lelouch sighed again, looking back at his half-sister "Sorry about her, she has a somewhat difficult character."

"O-Oh, no problem! I guess she has met too many people since becoming an Empress." said Marrybell before sitting at the table with her two followers, while Lelouch went to sit on the other side, beside C.C.

Oldrin, however, noticed an empty chair to her left, as well as to Lelouch's right "Um...Your Majesty? Are we waiting for someone else?"

Lelouch looked at her "You're Oldrin Zevon, right? My sister's trusted knight. If I remember correctly, you've always been by her side." much to her shock, the Emperor bowed his head slightly "Thank you for helping and supporting her over the years."

"P-Please, raise your head! What I did does not deserve such thanks!" Oldrin was slightly red with embarrassment as she waved her hands, showing her agitation.

The Emperor looked at her smiling "Not at all, I really appreciate a healthy and lasting friendship." he then added "To answer your question, we are waiting for another person. The chair on my right is usually occupied by Jeremiah Gottwald, the captain of my guard, but he is currently on a diplomatic mission. There are some nobles here in the motherland who have been somewhat 'vocal' in their disappointment with my work, so I asked my knight to take care of it."

"I imagine then that these nobles will be 'silenced', Your Majesty?" asked Casval with the lazy smile still on his face. When Lelouch's response was a simple smile, the male member of the Glinda Knights turned to his leader "I like the way our new Emperor thinks."

Among them, however, only C.C. noticed the strange light in his eyes as he spoke those words.

'_Oh...so he's that kind of person huh?_' she thought while biting a slice of pizza '_Very interesting._'

"You must be Casval Branstein. I read your file, apparently you're one of the best pilots of my sister's anti-terrorism unit." said Lelouch looking at the older boy "If what I read is true, your actions in Spain were really noteworthy."

"I only did what I do best, Your Majesty." Casval bowed his head "Eliminating terrorists equipped with old Glasgows is not something impressive. Except for the Black Knights there were no really harmful rebel groups."

Before Lelouch could talk, the double door of the room was opened from the outside and Ash made his entrance, now dressed in a Britannian military uniform. The albino bowed deeply with one hand on his chest "Greeting, Your Majesty. I came as soon as I heard I was invited to lunch. It is an honor to be here."

"Don't worry Ash, it was a sudden request after all." Lelouch then looked at him with a curious look "The fact that you are here gives me good hope for the outcome of the surgery."

Ash merely smiled before showing his left hand, now completely mechanical "Everything went perfectly, Your Majesty. I hope not to offend you in any way if I prefer to show the result of your generosity."

"You can do as you like, you won't hear any complaints from me." noticing his sister's confused look, Lelouch hastened to explain "Marry, this is Ash Collenor, the new addition to our army. He is a skilled pilot but he was able to prove it only with my help, since our father never wanted to waste even a second for those he didn't consider worthy."

Marrybell made a mental note to ask him about Ash later, before greeting the new arrival. After the ritual of greetings, the lunch finally began (excluding the fact that C.C. had already started eating at the second pizza) and so the small group of nobles and knights chatted serenely for an abundant hour, though Marrybell was about to ask Lelouch some personal questions, yet she refrained from doing so, in order to wait for a moment when they were alone.

The turning point came when Casval, after finishing his slice of cake, turned to Ash "So, you are a strong pilot?"

"I can't say for sure, having only done some simple tests in the simulator, but apparently my sync rate with the Lancelot is 100% and before lunch I was able to reconfirm this value." said Ash with a calm voice, surprising Marrybell and her two knights. After all, Oldrin also used a Knightmare Frame based on the Lancelot, yet her sync rate wasn't so high.

"In that case would you like to face me in a duel? Even in a simulator will be fine for me." asked the male older boy with a gleam in his eyes, which was met by the cold, yet fierce, look of Ash.

"I think it's a great idea." Lelouch clapped his hands before getting up "It will be a good way to pass the after meal, and I am also sure that Lloyd will be happy to be able to collect more data."

* * *

"A duel in a simulator? Of course you can!" the eccentric scientist looked at his assistant "Cécile, go immediately to prepare two Gloucester simulators!"

"Gloucester?" asked Ash with a raised eyebrow "Not Lancelot?"

Lloyd showed an apologetic smile "I'm sorry, but during my stay in Japan, many of the simulators were dismantled. So now we only have one active simulator for the Lancelot, but we are going to install others, especially for the Vincent and Gareth. Honestly, I don't know what the technicians thought when they decided to remove the other simulators."

Casval shrugged "After all it's just a simulator, even a Gloucester will be fine."

When the two simulators were ready, Lelouch and the others went to sit in a small room equipped with armchairs and large screens in order to observe the battle reconstructed virtually thanks to the aforementioned simulators. The battlefield was a simple rocky plain and, from nothing, two Gloucesters appeared, several meters from each other. On the cockpit of one of them there was written 'Ash', while on the other 'Casval'.

The two machines stood still for a few seconds, but then two MVS appeared at the sides of Ash's cockpit, while a rifle materialized in the hands of his Knightmare. On the other side, a Jousting Lance appeared in Casval's Gloucester's right hand, while an MVS appeared in the left one.

"**Are you ready for this, kid?**"

"**I'm not that much younger than you, you know?**" replied Ash with huff before adding "**Yes, I'm ready.**"

"**Then let's start!**" and with that, Casval immediately moved his Knightmare forward, pushing his Landspinners to the maximum. Ash retreated accordingly, firing several bursts with his rifle, trying to aim at his opponent's legs, but Casval avoided all the bullets without any difficulty and in a few seconds managed to reach the albino's unit.

The older boy raised his left arm to hit Ash from above with his MVS, but the albino didn't get caught unprepared and, when the blade fell down for the slash, he quickly turned the entire Knightmare around using its Landspinners, managing to hit the flat side of the blade with the side of his cockpit. Casval was momentarily surprised by the move, but he immediately recovered and, when Ash came face to face with him again, he immediately raised his spear to protect himself from a new barrage of bullets.

While the two were fighting, Lloyd, Cécile and Oldrin were sitting in the front row inside the observation room, intently watching the fight. Lelouch, Cera and Marrybell, on the other hand, were sitting a few rows back to discuss more personal matters.

"Why did you kill our father, Lelouch?" asked Marrybell, staring at her half-brother.

"Because he was a monster, Marry." replied the new Emperor with a cold voice "A tyrant, a dictator, the furthest thing from a father that you can think of. He started wars for trivial reasons and now, through his fault, Britannia is seen by the rest of the world as an evil empire. He abandoned me and Nunnally and see how it ended..."

Marrybell winced at his change of voice. Despite being the most powerful man in the world, his voice exuded sadness and fatigue, as if he had lost everything "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have asked..."

"No...no...it's not your fault." Lelouch reassured her with a tired smile "Nunnally's death still haunts me, and even though our father is dead, I still feel resentment for him."

His half-sister nodded before asking "Regarding our siblings Schneizel and Cornelia...what about them?" after a brief pause, she added "You labeled them as traitors, I need to know why since it's my job."

"Schneizel authorized the development of the F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead...and I was in the front row when that damn bomb exploded, wiping out most of Tokyo..." Lelouch looked back at her "He has the original plans for that weapon...a weapon that can kill millions of people instantly, Marry. If he were to build more, how many innocents will have to die before he decides to stop?"

The princess felt a shiver run down her spine. The image Lelouch was painting was not the most optimistic, especially since she knew their brother Schneizel and someone like him would not hesitate to use that weapon again if it means a victory for him. Most likely, Cornelia and the former Knights of the Round had decided to join him also because Schneizel, when Charles was still alive, was a prince and Prime Minister of Britannia, while Lelouch had lost his right to the throne and had been exiled years ago.

"I understand perfectly. Lelouch, as leader of the Glinda Knights, my body and my soul are at the service of Britannia and its Emperor." she bowed her head "My knights and I will be by your side until the end."

A sincere smile appeared on Lelouch's face "Thank you, Marry. I really appreciate it. Now more than ever I need faithful and skillful commanders."

Marrybell raised her head, smiling back at him, before taking on a serious expression "Since we're on the subject, I have to talk to you about something I only recently learned while I was coming to Pendragon." when he motioned for her to continue, she asked "What do you know about Pluto?"

Lelouch raised an eyebrow "If I remember correctly, it is a secret organization similar to OSI but with the task of doing the 'dirty work' for the Empire. Two of his previous leaders were Olivia and Oiaguro Zevon, who, if I am not mistaken, were the mother and uncle of your knight, Oldrin."

"That's correct." Marrybell looked for a moment at her friend as she was captured by the fight between Ash and Casval "However, when Oiaguro left the organization, Pluto remained on the sidelines for a long time. It is only now that I learned that many of its members as well as most of the Knightmare Frames have disappeared."

The Emperor narrowed his eyes "How many?"

"We are talking about at least a thousand Knightmare..." replied Marrybell with a grim expression before adding "Mostly Gloucesters and Vincents, but also Sutherlands and Portmans."

'_Damn it, I should have worried about that too, but the time was too little...now I find myself with at least a thousand rebels with Knightmares and military experience who know the Britannian system well._'

"My informants tried to find out where they went, but all they discovered was that all those Knightmares were boarded on old merchant ships that then left for the Old World." Marrybell sighed "There the tracks have gone cold and now we have no idea where they can be."

"Don't blame yourself, it was also my mistake. Anything else?"

"Yes, we discovered the secret base of the Wings of Talleyrand, the terrorist group that attacked Pendragon months ago." the princess showed a small smile "I was planning to go and eliminate them once and for all once finished here."

"You have my blessing for this mission, sister. Indeed, even better..." Lelouch stood up, turning to the screens just in time to see Ash's Knightmare as he tried to pierce Casval's cockpit, now with only one arm and his spear "Lloyd, stop the simulation. There are more important problems to solve."

Despite his disappointment, the scientist did as required and within seconds the two pilots were in the room with them.

"Marrybell just told me that the Glinda Knights have found the secret base of a terrorist group here in the motherland. Lloyd, I want my machine ready to go with them, as well as the one for Cera and Ash." ordered Lelouch, surprising the albino.

"At once, Your Majesty!" said Lloyd with a sloppy military salute "However, Ash's personal unit is not yet complete."

"Then a Vincent Commander Model will do for now." Lelouch was then interrupted by the arrival of Sebas.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but Lord Jeremiah has just returned from his mission."

A cold grin found its place on Lelouch's face "Even better. Tell him to join me in the throne room. Lloyd, I want those machines ready within an hour. Marry, can I expect the same from you?"

"Of course, Your Majesty!" she stood up with firm eyes "My knights will be ready."

"Excellent. Tell your parents to get ready and then join me in the throne room with the two knights you brought here with you." ordered Lelouch, much to her confusion. However, the princess immediately recovered and approached a terminal to contact the Grandberry, the Glinda Knights flagship, while Lelouch left the room with Sebas, Cera and Ash behind him.

In a matter of twenty minutes, they were all again gathered inside the throne room, where Jeremiah had just finished his report concerning the positive outcome of the mission.

"Reliable as always, Jeremiah." nodded Lelouch with a smile "Now please, at my side."

The cyborg nodded sharply before moving to Lelouch's right side, while Sebas was to the left of Cera. The young Emperor observed the four people in front of him and, after a few seconds, he decided to start in a direct and brutal way.

"In this world there are things that ordinary people would not even be able to imagine, things that seem to come from a fantasy book. Among these things is the Geass." he immediately noticed that, while the three knights had a confused expression on their faces, Marrybell was instead surprised. Wanting to finish that meeting as soon as possible, he took off his contact lenses, showing his permanent Geass in both eyes, much to their shock "This is a Geass, also known as the Power of Kings. This power changes from person to person, and is capable of incredible things. But I guess you already know all this. Am I right, Marry?"

Oldrin and Casval quickly looked at their leader with confused eyes, but their confusion soon turned into surprise and shock when they saw a Geass appearing in her left eye. The princess looked at him with a small smile "I should have imagined that you were aware of this power."

"You signed a contract with V.V., didn't you?" asked Cera, with an amused smile "My dear Lelouch, on the other hand, has a contract with me."

Marrybell looked at her with surprised eyes "You are like that V.V.?"

"I don't like being compared to that goblin, but yes, I can also bestow the Geass to people like you."

"Wait wait wait...what's going on?" asked Casval, looking at all of them "I lost myself when the Emperor showed us his strange eyes."

Lelouch sighed before looking at him in the eyes "Clap your hands ten times."

"Huh? Why should I-?!" Casval stopped mid sentence before showing an almost manic smile "At once, Your Majesty!" and with that, he clapped his hands ten times. After a brief moment, he looked around with confusion all written on his face "W-What happened?"

"Jeremiah, if you could..."

"Of course, Your Majesty." said Jeremiah before showing his left, cybernetic eye. A blue light seemed to engulf the entire room for a moment and Casval's eyes widened in surprise when the 'memories' of what had just happened came back to him.

"Do you understand now?" asked Lelouch looking at him "That was my Geass, the power of Absolute Obedience. I just need to look at any of you and then order you anything. You'll follow my order to letter, no matter what kind of order. The only immune to this power are my wife Cera, who is immune to all the Geass, and my knight Jeremiah, whose artificial eye hides a Geass Canceler with which he can nullify and cancel the effects of the Geass." he then shifted his gaze to his half-sister "What about yours?"

"Absolute Submission." replied Marrybell "From what I understand it works like yours, but I can only turn other people into my slaves. Those under the influence of my Geass lose their personality and become puppets without conscience...it is such an ignoble power that I preferred to use it only on one occasion."

"Marry..."

Said princess looked at the horrified face of her friend and showed her a small sad smile "I'm sorry I never told you anything, Oz, but I preferred to keep the secret to avoid unpleasant surprises."

"I...I...do you swear you used it only once?" asked Oldrin looking at her friend, straight in the eyes.

Marrybell nodded without hesitation "Yes, I swear. Like I said, my power is simply ignoble...I can understand having orders executed...but depriving a person of their personality is something that goes beyond my preferences."

Oldrin remained silent for several seconds, but then she nodded with a slight smile. Even if what she had just discovered had particularly upset her, she decided that she would continue to trust her friend and leader. Behind her, even Casval nodded.

"Your Majesty...?" everyone looked at Ash, who had remained silent up to that point "Why did you decide to talk to us about this power? It seems to me one of those information that people would kill for."

"It's very simple, boy." said Cera rising from the throne with an evil smile on her face "You should know that there have been several Geass users before Lelouch and Marrybell. To name a few, the former Emperor, Charles zi Britannia, the former Knight of One, Bismarck Waldstein, and also Marianne vi Britannia, Lelouch's mother, had a Geass." that information also surprised Marrybell, who was unaware of other Geass users "It is clear that, sooner or later, a new conflict will break out and Lelouch wants to be ready for everything, so we have decided to give the most worthy and faithful soldiers an advantage."

"In the whole Empire only Marrybell and I have a Geass, while our enemies have at least one with Bismarck and who knows how many others." continued Lelouch from his throne "Ash, in spite of what my father has done, you have remained faithful to Britannia, and now that you have a suitable body to fight, I want to hope that your loyalty will not waver as you are a possible candidate for the new Knights of the Round."

Ash looked at him with wide eyes before kneeling "Your Majesty, my loyalty is only for you and the Empire. Whatever your order is, I will complete it without hesitation."

Lelouch nodded satisfied before looking at Oldrin and Casval "You two are among my sister's best pilots. Now that the army is being restructured, I need skilled commanders and soldiers who can carry out their tasks. I hope my trust is not badly placed with you."

"I serve Marrybell mel Britannia, but first of all my loyalty is to the Empire and to the Emperor. I will never betray your trust." said Oldrin after kneeling like Ash, with Casval following her lead.

"Britannia's enemies are still out there, I would be a fool to betray the Empire right now. As long as there are enemies, I will fight until my death."

Lelouch looked at the three of them before nodding toward C.C. who smiled again "Good, now that we're all clear..."

She stopped in front of the three knights, staring at them with her golden and hunting eyes.

"Would you like to form a contract?"

* * *

_**[Toromo Agency's Base (Argentine) – 18th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

A young soldier with long dark blue hair walked through the corridors of the secret base, looking for a specific door. His brown eyes finally stopped on one in particular and, without hesitation, he entered the room, finding a boy of his age, with short blond hair, lying on the bed reading a book.

"Schnee, get up and come with me."

The blond's blue eyes moved over him "What's wrong, Ledo? I'm on break."

"Sir Suzaku is fighting against _her_...again." explained Ledo with a calm voice, not at all bothered by the groan of Schnee, who got up reluctantly.

"Why the hell does he continue to face that woman? Has he not yet understood that she is stronger than him?" asked the blond with another groan while wearing his jacket "How many defeats?"

"The last time I checked, he had lost for the twenty-sixth time, while Sir Gino lost eight times already, Lady Dorothea was defeated five times and finally Lady Nonette lost only once, although it must be said that the two dueled only on one occasion." Ledo walked out of the room with his comrade at his side "As far as I know, Sir Suzaku has lost in any form of duel."

"Tch...I still don't believe our Lord is so stubborn..."

The two walked in silence until they reached one of the many simulator rooms for Knightmare Frames and, as soon as the door opened, they saw Suzaku emerge from one of them, dripping with sweat and visibly tired. Gino was immediately at his side to help him, while from the other simulator came out an attractive woman with long black hair and eyes of the same color, protected by frameless glasses.

She looked at Suzaku with an air of superiority, adjusting her glasses "I hope this umpteenth defeat puts an end to your idiocy, Knight of Seven. I still don't understand why Lord Schneizel has decided to welcome you among us, but know that you will not earn my trust by continuing to challenge me. I was the Knight of Two for a reason and with these actions you only show me that you are not worthy of your title."

Without waiting for an answer, she left, forcing Schnee and Ledo to move quickly, even doing a military salute to avoid running into her anger. When she was gone, the two approached Suzaku who was now glaring at the ground.

"You know Suzu...she's right...you can't just challenge her again and again." said Gino with a sigh while Anya simply nodded.

Suzaku said nothing for a few seconds, but then finally looked at the Knight of Three "And what should I do then? She has no problem showing her hatred for me even though I have already proven to be on Prince Schneizel's side, and she continues to voice her doubts about my abilities. She simply appeared out of nowhere and started giving everyone orders." he looked down again "She also said that someone like Sir Luciano should have survived and that I should have died in his place."

"Just ignore her." Gino patted him on the back "When the time comes, she will understand your value and appreciate your commitment."

Schnee couldn't hold back an amused snort, receiving a glare from Gino and Ledo, but Suzaku seemed to ignore him before standing up "Maybe you're right...at least my mission area is different from her."

Walking outside the door, along with the rest of the group, he crossed the Knight of Twelve, Monica Krushevsky, and the Knight of Four, Dorothea Ernst, along the corridor, with the two of them who watched him for a few seconds, before Monica said "Another loss?"

Suzaku just nodded before walking past them, ignoring the fact that they were now walking with them. Within minutes, they were all inside a huge hangar used to assemble and repair the Knightmare Frames.

"It seems that everyone is ready for the big day." noted Gino with a smile, looking at his personal machine, the Tristan.

"That day is not too far...maybe a week?" wondered Monica after sparing a glance to her Knightmare Frame, the Florence, which had finally been completed after recovering the remains of an Alexander from a battlefield in Europia.

"Six days. Four days from now we will leave for our designated areas and then await the approval of His Highness." explained Dorothea after having looked at her future machine, the Palomides.

Schnee and Ledo remained silent as they watched their custom Vincent, as well as Anya, now accustomed to the sight of her Mordred. However Suzaku did not notice any of this, his eyes fixed on a white and golden machine that Schneizel technicians had assembled for him.

"Lancelot Albion..." a soft smile appeared on his face "Welcome back, partner."

* * *

_**[Grand Canyon (Grandberry) – 18th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

Ash adjusted the collar of his pilot's uniform that had been provided to him by the Glinda Knights, while observing his temporary Knightmare, a Vincent Commander Model used by the royal guard of Lelouch, with the only difference that the head-piece had been dyed of red.

'_To think that finally I can fight together with all the others..._' he clenched his fist on the chest '_I will not disappoint the Emperor! Whatever it takes!_'

"Are you ready for your first mission?" asked Oldrin walking toward him.

Ash turned to answer her, but the words died in his throat when he saw her pilot suit. While the upper part was not worthy of note, the lower one was too flashy. Long white boots covered her legs up to half of her thighs, but the rest of her legs and hips were completely uncovered, leaving a small part of her uniform covering her groin.

Hell, if you looked closely you could almost see her w...

He quickly looked up with a slight blush on his face.

"What is...that?"

Oldrin arched an eyebrow "What do you mean?"

He gestured toward her with one hand "Your pilot suit...isn't it...how can I say it...too shameful?"

This time it was the girl who blushed, but before Oldrin could answer him, someone put an arm around Ash's shoulder who, looking to his right, saw Casval with a straight face. However the seriousness lasted a few moments, because then the older boy showed him a smile and a thumb up.

"Glinda Knights are the best!"

A white boot found its place on his face, making him stagger backwards and, looking towards Oldrin, Ash saw her balanced on her right leg, while the left one was raised and completely naked.

'_How did she get her boot off so quickly?!_'

"Okay, everyone listen up!" shouted Marrybell walking in the hangar with a pilot suit identical to that of Oldrin "We are about to reach the LZ, so I want you ready and focused! The Emperor himself is here with us today and will participate in the battle! I don't want to see mistakes from you, is that clear?!"

"YES, YOUR HIGHNESS!"

A few seconds later, Lelouch and Cera made their entrance and the Emperor observed for a few seconds all the pilots gathered in front of him.

"These Wings of Talleyrand dared to attack the capital of our Empire, something that no one had ever done before. Your commitment to defending Pendragon was incredible, but some of these rats still hide here, in the Grand Canyon, in a maze of artificially created tunnels and caverns!" he waved his arm to the side in a wide arc "Today we will ensure that none of them can cause further damage to our homeland! Today the Wings of Talleyrand will cease to exist and the world will be one step closer to peace! All Hail Britannia!"

"ALL HAIL LELOUCH!"

All the pilots ran towards their respective machines and, as he boarded his Vincent, Ash looked at the airship's bay for a last time. While most pilots used red and gold Vincents, Marrybell, Oldrin and even Cera used variants of the Lancelot. Casval, on the other hand, used a red, white and black Knightmare, at least two meters taller, with broad flared shoulders, two back-curving antennae on either side of its head and three strange white stakes in its left arm, while what appeared to be a stake driver was attached to the right arm.

"It's called Vortigern King." said Casval before entering his cockpit, opening a private channel with Ash "This bad boy has been my trusted companion for several months now."

"We are at the LZ! Ready to get off!" Marrybell's voice was fraught with tension and was perceptible even through the radio, but this didn't prevent her from being the first to jump out of the bay, closely followed by Oldrin, Casval and the rest of the Glinda Knights.

"My my, they seem to be eager to show off, Lelouch." said Cera with an amused smile inside her pink Lancelot Frontier.

"At least they are ready to take action." his voice was calm despite being his first battle since becoming Emperor, however when he came out of the bay Lelouch felt a strong sense of excitement in being able to return to the battlefield.

"Your Majesty?"

"Yes, Ash?"

"If I may ask, what is that Knightmare?" asked the albino, looking at the black and golden machine of the Emperor. He didn't know why, but that Knightmare seemed almost exactly the same as Zero's famous Shinkirō.

"It's my personal machine." said Lelouch with an amused voice and Ash didn't understand why, even after hearing his next words "I called it: Mahoroba Type-0."

Seconds later, they landed at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, where Marrybell was already giving orders to her pilots. Three of her best knights (Leonhardt, Sokkia and Tink) would have remained outside along with the Vincents equipped with Float Systems, while the rest would have continued inside the tunnels. Her orders, however, were suddenly interrupted by the arrival of several enemy units that came out of a large cave not far away. They all looked like jets as big as a Knightmare, but half of them transformed before landing, taking on a vaguely humanoid shape.

"Enemy Somersets spotted!" shouted Oldrin with the others already firing at the new enemy. Those that had not yet transformed, flew high in the sky but were chased by Leonhardt who, with his Bradford in Fortress Mode, eliminated them all in a few seconds.

After destroying with a MVS the last Somerset, which had come too close, Marrybell turned to the others "Let's go, the entrance is in front of us!"

The designated teams quickly entered the cave, and Lelouch, Cera, Ash and Casval were the only ones to have a flying Knightmare, while the others advanced using their Landspinners.

"Remember where we are, soldiers." said Lelouch on the open channel "Above us there are thousands of tons of rock, so avoid using too powerful attacks that could damage the integrity of these tunnels."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After a few minutes of advance, they found themselves inside a gigantic cave and Lelouch was surprised to see even some crystals on the domed vault, but his moment of charm was interrupted when explosive bullets hit his Knightmare. Marrybell and the others watched in horror the cloud of smoke caused by the explosions, but their concern vanished when they saw a series of energy hexes surround the Mahoroba, which remained completely unharmed.

"Ah, so they set up battle-stations in the cave walls. Smart on their part." commented Lelouch, looking at the various cannons installed in large holes in different points of the cave.

The Glinda Knights didn't wait for a second volley of shells and scattered around the area, shooting at all the enemy positions, while Ash and Casval flew up to take down the topmost cannons. Other Somersets seemed to come from a different tunnel than the one that had brought them there and in a few moments the cave turned into a hell of iron and flames. While Britannia's soldiers had more freedom of movement, they had no shelters available and couldn't use explosive ammunition since their enemies were too close to the walls; the terrorists didn't have these problems but the cannons couldn't move and their Somersets weren't able to take down the four flying machines, with C.C. and Lelouch who were eliminating as many enemies as possible.

"They are trying to keep us stuck here." said Ash in their private channel "These Somersets aren't even trying to focus on any of us, they seem to be aiming to waste our time."

"I wonder why..." replied Casval with a bored tone of voice while destroying another cannon with his plasma sword, whose handle was nothing but one of the previously visible stakes on the left arm of his machine.

"It's possible that their current commander is trying to prepare something...or he's just trying to escape." Lelouch looked at his sister's Knightmare "Marry, we need to move on. Can your soldiers stay here to take care of these rats?"

"They can." she nodded sharply "Oldrin, stay here with them and then regroup with us."

"Cera, stay here as well, give them support for those cannons." ordered the Emperor.

"Yes Your Highness! / Fine by me."

Lelouch quickly turned his machine into its Fortress Mode and Marrybell jumped on it to move faster, while Ash and Casval were right behind them to eliminate two Somersets who were trying to hit them from behind. The group of four Knightmare Frames advanced in the darkness for almost a full minute before arriving at what must have been the center of that underground base given all the tunnels that were visible in that huge cave, but with several prefabs, probably used as warehouses and housing.

"**YOU!**"

Lelouch looked up and was particularly surprised to see what must have been a Knight Giga Fortress, although very different from the one used by Jeremiah. This new model seemed much rougher and less technologically advanced, yet Marrybell immediately recognized that machine.

"A Sutherland Ikaros? I believed that the only existing one had been destroyed during the assault on Pendragon, along with its creator, Wilbur Millville."

"**So you came here to finish what you started huh? It wasn't enough to kill my father!**" shouted the female pilot of the Sutherland Ikaros "**Where is that damn Leonhardt?! Is he hiding?! Or maybe he's in that black and golden Knightmare?!**"

Lelouch could only be amused by the situation "Looks like she has a good reason to hate you and your knights, sister. I think it is better to eliminate her as soon as possible."

Inside her cockpit, Marrybell nodded "Casval, take care of those Somersets!"

"Aye aye, Your Highness..." he quickly threw himself against the enemy machines, destroying them easily, while Ash began shooting at the battle-tanks that were positioning themselves in the cave. Seriously, these terrorists had unique Knightmares and then they ended up using those old pieces of metal?

"**DIE!**" the two large wings of the Sutherland Ikaros split into three parts each, and from those six appendages it began to fire energy bullets thanks to some coil guns mounted inside them. Lelouch nimbly avoided all the blows while Marrybell tried to fire back with her rifle, yet a strange barrier was created in front of the enemy and all the bullets bounced against it.

"An Electromagnetic Armor, just like the other one." she noted with narrowed eyes "Lelouch, that armor is particularly effective against metal objects, we cannot get too close and all the bullets are practically useless."

"Someone called?!" shouted Casval coming from above with his huge plasma sword, ready to cut in half the enemy, but the pilot of the Sutherland Ikaros saw him and, upon tilting her machine toward the ceiling, she activated the Electromagnetic Armor, blocking his attack and forcing him to back down.

"Oh, it looks like the commander knows her stuff." he said with excitement in his voice while dodging two large slash-harkens fired by the enemy machine. At that moment Ash tried to attack with two MVS but the barrier was activated again and his attack was also repulsed.

"**You can't defeat me! I'll kill you all!**"

Countless rockets were fired from the compartment at the back of the Knight Giga Fortress but none of them hit a target due to the agility of the Britannian machines. Lelouch began to fly low so that Marrybell could land on the ground and try to hit their enemy from a blind spot, but more rockets continued to rain on them, forcing the two of them to stay in motion, even though the Mahoroba didn't have to worry about it thanks to his Absolute Defense System.

"Ash, Casval, please try to hold it in place." said Lelouch while transforming his Knightmare.

Ash was the first to react and immediately tried to engage the Sutherland Ikaros but was forced to avoid the blows of its coil guns, while Casval was 'busy' with the last Somersets. When even the last enemy machine was destroyed, he began to avoid the energy shots gracefully when then an idea occurred to him.

"I noticed that when she is forced to stop our attacks, she can't move..." he deactivated his large plasma blade before putting away the stake and taking out another one, from which he created another plasma blade, thinner and longer than the previous one "Hey Ash, try to hit her on the right! Do not try with a slash, but with a lunge!"

"Copy that." avoiding other energy blasts, Ash managed to get close enough to try to hit her with an MVS but the barrier prevented him from completing his attack. Instead of giving up, the albino tried to pierce that defense and to his help came Casval from the left who used his plasma blade in the same way, managing to pierce that barrier slightly. As expected by Casval, the Knight Giga Fortress couldn't move now and its pilot realized it when, in front of her, the Mahoroba appeared, with its right arm raised. The muzzle of what was supposed to be a weapon appeared from under its arm and, before she could react, she saw red energy charging into it.

"**Thanks for following me and my sister so close to the ground, now I don't have to worry about hitting the ceiling or the cave walls.**" Lelouch said on the open channel in an amused voice before firing a sphere-shaped blast of energy that hit the barrier. Surprisingly the barrier managed to withstand the blast until it vanished, but it was now clear that the energy levels of the Sutherland Ikaros were nearing their end.

However, before Lelouch could fire again, a roar echoed in the cave and a large bullet hit one of the six appendages of the Knight Giga Fortress from behind, destroying it. The barrier faltered for a few seconds before turning off and, both Ash and Casval, pushed their Knightmares forward before piercing the enemy cockpit with their blades. Sparks and electricity sprang from the machine as the two of them moved away to escape the impending explosion.

"**Fa...ther...**"

The entire Sutherland Ikaros was engulfed into a sphere of flames and the explosion generated a strong shock wave that lasted a few seconds before the burning wreckage fell to the ground.

"Looks like we've won...but..." Lelouch looked in the direction from which the bullet had come, since he knew it hadn't been Marrybell, and on one of the big prefabs he saw a completely red Gloucester on its knees equipped with an Anti-Knightmare sniper rifle. He raised both eyebrows at the sight of that machine, thinking for a moment about another person who used completely red Knightmares, but then he saw the Gloucester aiming somewhere else and firing several bullets, destroying a small group of Somersets who had arrived from another tunnel.

Casval whistled impressed "That guy has a pretty good aim."

Lelouch silently nodded before flying to that machine along with Ash and Casval, while Marrybell followed them advancing on the ground. Now that he was closer, the Emperor was able to notice an inverted black cross painted on the chest of the Gloucester '_Does it belong to a religious group? I didn't think they still existed._'

"**Could I know the name of the pilot who decided to help us?**"

The Gloucester looked at his machine "**You can call me Lucifer.**"

'_A false name, no doubt about it._' thought Lelouch with a little grin before landing and opening his cockpit, stepping out with one foot resting on it "So can I talk to you face to face, Lucifer?"

"**Your Majesty...?**" the pilot's voice seemed surprised, yet Lelouch and the others couldn't help but also notice a note of boredom in it. After a few seconds, the Gloucester's cockpit opened and from it came out a young boy, probably the same age as Lelouch, with short, slightly spiked black hair with white streaks. His bored red eyes observed the Emperor of Britannia "Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." replied Lelouch with an amused voice "This was a terrorist base, so it is the duty of the Empire to weeding out the weeds."

Lucifer merely shrugged "I heard about this base a few days ago, so I decided to eliminate these terrorists."

"**You 'heard' about this base...?**" asked Marrybell and the doubt was more than evident in her voice.

"There are many voices and information in the underworld, if you know where to look for them."

Now Lelouch was interested. This boy clearly had connections in the underworld, something that only the OSI had and in some cases the information weren't even that good. If this Lucifer had learned of a terrorist base, it means he had really good connections, besides it was clear that he was not part of the army. Perhaps that boy could be very useful to him.

"Lucifer..." said boy looked back at the Emperor, who was showing a sharp smile "I have a proposal for you..."

* * *

_**[Berlin – 18th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

The sun was now setting on the capital (until the reconquest of Paris) of the E.U. or what remained of it. In many factories the noises of the machinery were still audible while ammunition and spare parts were produced for the Knightmares who would take part in the next war. Smilas had discussed a lot, but in the end he had managed to convince the various representatives of the E.U. to focus more on the production of the new Alexanders. Of course, the Panzer Hummels and the Panzer-Wespes were still an integral part of their army, but they couldn't hope to win using only those.

'_Furthermore, our new __mobile command center__ units based on the __Britannian__ G-1 will provide us with some advantages in the long run._' thought Smilas while sipping a glass of wine before looking at the other occupant of the room "You seem quieter than usual, Wizard."

"I was just thinking." replied the masked man after having emptied his glass.

"About the new Britannia?"

Wizard made a sound with his throat that made it clear to the general that he had guessed right "I haven't been there for several years. To see it so different surprised me. It is one thing to see the news, but seeing the change in person is another story."

"When the war is over you can go back there. It is clear to me by now that you are of Britannian origin." said Smilas with a small grin "As long as you don't mind the future Emperor."

The masked man snorted "That Schneizel can even choke on his scarf, as far as I'm concerned. I went to that place just to recruit some manpower."

Smilas couldn't help but think back to the huge number of soldiers and Knightmares that Wizard had managed to bring to their side. About a thousand machines ready for use and pilots able to fight with them, although it was clear that all those soldiers were more loyal to Wizard than to anyone else. The general didn't know where he had found them, but it was clear that the masked man was already aware of their existence from before his temporary return to Britannia.

'_And given the color scheme of those Knightmare Frames it is clear that they belonged to some form of organization._' thought Smilas before mentally shrugging '_No matter, it is clear that Wizard has nothing but hatred for Britannia. It will be easy to take one of those Vincents to reverse engineering it carefully. Despite our alliance, Schneizel didn't want to share the secrets of Britannian weapons with us._'

A sudden acoustic sound drew their attention to a large screen hanging on the wall. The general placed his glass on a table before pressing a button on a small keyboard and the screen lit up, showing the calm face of the White King.

"Gentlemen, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"Sure it is..." grumbled Wizard with sarcasm more than evident in the voice but neither Schneizel nor Smilas paid much attention to it.

"Wizard, I must congratulate you on the success of your mission. All those soldiers will be very useful in the coming days." said Schneizel, smiling at the masked man "In fact, I was thinking of leaving you at the head of that group, removing the soldiers previously assigned under your command."

The man dressed in black and white narrowed his eyes behind the mask "Fine by me, they are certainly more useful and trained than those you gave me before."

"But I admit that you surprised me...being able to recruit the entire Pluto organization is no small thing." continued the former Prime Minister of Britannia "It looks like you knew what to do to get them to accept the proposal."

"A wizard never reveals his tricks." a grin appeared on his face "Besides, out there it's full of people who knew about Pluto. Britain's security system must have worsened considerably during Charles's reign."

"A fair point." nodded Schneizel, not at all bothered by the hidden insult addressed to his late father, before looking at Smilas "How are the preparations going?"

"Everything according to plan." replied the general with a calm nod. After tapping something on the keyboard, a map of the E.U. appeared on the screen, and Schneizel's face was placed in the upper right corner "As you can see, we have already prepared all the routes for the invasion. We also managed to complete the two Stratospheric Launchers and now we have three of them: one in Italy, one in Germany and the other in Ireland. I also personally assigned the best teams for the first wave. If your information is correct, we should be able to regain much of Europe within a day."

"But of course. Thanks to some informants, I managed to acquire the current number of troops in each city as well as in different military bases. It is likely that Lelouch will make changes, but he cannot change all the cards on the table so quickly." said Schneizel with a light chuckle "Especially when he is committed to eliminating the terrorists left in the motherland."

Smilas raised an eyebrow "Oh? This is something new for me." and a quick glace to Wizard made him understand that the masked man was already aware of the matter.

"A few months ago, a terrorist group attempted to bomb Pendragon, but they were stopped by my sister Marrybell mel Britannia and her Glinda Knights, but some of the terrorists managed to escape." explained the White King with a small smile "And by pure chance, while she was headed to the capital for a meeting with Lelouch, she found out about their secret base."

"And I imagine you have nothing to do with this fortuitous event, don't you?" asked Smilas with a knowing smile before adding "Your sister is also the Viceroy of Spain, with her departure and the absence of the Glinda Knights it will be easier to conquer Madrid."

"On our side, we should be able to achieve our goals in just one day, especially now that Lady Beatrice has joined us." said the blond Britannian with a cold smile.

"The Knight of the Lost Sword..." breathed Smilas, distinctly remembering that woman's ability on the battlefield, when he himself was a simple sergeant "I didn't think she'd be back in action after resigning as Knight of the Round."

"Let's just say that she was a fervent follower of my late father, and that she doesn't accept someone like Lelouch as Emperor." Schneizel looked at his side for a moment "I will send my attack routes in the next few hours, now I have an important meeting with some of my informants. Good night, gentlemen." and with that, his face faded from the screen.

After a few moments of silence, Wizard looked at Smilas "I don't like him."

"You don't say..." the general rolled his eyes "And here I thought you were one of his greatest supporters..."

"Spare me the sarcasm." Wizard got up from his armchair before walking to the door "I'll go check on the troops and my new soldiers."

When the door closed, Smilas sighed "Good grief, sometimes he behaves like a child."

"I HEARD YOU!"

Another sigh left his lips. Why was it so hard to find normal people?

* * *

_**[Pendragon (Royal Palace) – 19th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

With each new day, new challenges came and Lelouch was experiencing those words on his skin as he looked at a political map of the world. His eyes moved slowly from the motherland to Europia and finally to the territories belonging to the U.F.N. and from an external point of view, he seemed to be looking for something.

"You seem troubled, Your Majesty." said Sebas at his side, offering him a cup of warm tea that Lelouch gladly accepted.

The young Emperor took a sip before sighing "I'm looking for the place where everything will start."

"Everything?" repeated Jeremiah, standing on the other side of the table "What do you mean, Your Majesty?"

Lelouch pointed at the map, tapping his finger over Paris "Although I have stopped all conflicts, it is clear that the remaining states of the E.U. are preparing for a new war and, if what Lucifer says is true, they are not alone."

The loyal cyborg glanced for a moment at Lucifer, who was sitting in a corner of the room while reading a book with a bored expression. The young pilot had followed them after the raid at the terrorist base and then, at Lelouch's request, told them what he knew about possible operations in Europia or even in the motherland. Despite his information, all they had discovered was that the E.U. was supplying its army with Knightmare Frames and that many troops were being moved to the borders with the Britannian territories.

"Is that why you asked Ash to talk to the various commanders in Europia?"

Lelouch nodded with a small smirk. After the little talk with his wife, Ash had obtained a Geass and, unlike those of Oldrin and Casval, his power was not at all suitable for battle. In fact, from the point of view of Cera, it was one of the most banal but at the same time most useful Geass that could happen under the command of Lelouch. On the side note, Lucifer also owned a Geass but he got it from V.V. a few years ago, when Lelouch's uncle still had the habit of granting Geass to complete strangers to avoid getting bored. When Lelouch came to know about this, he was pleasantly surprised, especially since he now had another Geass on his side.

"His Geass can also work through a screen, so it is the most suitable for the task." he looked down at the map "Moreover, when I'll understand how my enemies want to act, I will ask him to use it again on a large scale."

His two servants nodded when a faint sound caught Sebas's attention as he removed a small device from his pants pocket. After a quick glance at the screen, he leaned toward the Emperor "Your Majesty, one of the agents you requested arrived. One Angelique De Villepin is waiting to meet you."

"Excellent, accompany her here as soon as possible." nodded Lelouch while thinking about her last name. After a few seconds, it clicked in his mind that the De Villepin family had always been loyal to the crown, but Lelouch had used his Geass on them when he took possession of the throne. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned to the door '_Let's hope that their youngest daughter doesn't have something to say about their behavior...it would be a __nuisance__ having to use the Geass on her too._'

After a short time, someone knocked on the door and, after a calm 'Come in' from Lelouch, a young girl with loose, large curls that reached her shoulders, entered with a calm but firm step, immediately bowing before the Emperor.

"Your Majesty, it's an honor to finally meet you." in spite of her military uniform, Lelouch could see how that girl, who was only a year older than him, had a slender but definitely trained body, if the reports about her were reliable.

"Raise your head, Angelique." said Lelouch with authority in his voice "You have been summoned here to discuss about your missions in Europia."

She immediately raised her head, looking at him with her dark green eyes "Did I made some mistake? I have compiled a detailed report on my last mission in Italy as requested, and nothing unusual has been reported to me."

'_Well, at least __sh__e is a person who cares about doing things right. I'm sure she and Jeremiah will get along._' thought Lelouch before shacking his head "No, it's not about that. I read the report and you carried out the mission to the best of your ability. I am more than satisfied with the results." those words seemed to reassure Angelique "What I wanted to know is about the man to whom did you report during your period in Europia. As you know, my brother Schneizel has been labeled a traitor, so I would like you to tell me what you know about him and any secret bases not shown on this map."

After gesturing toward the table, he slightly narrowed his eyes "The enemies of the Empire are out there and are preparing to fight a new war, so I don't want to leave anything to chance."

Angelique nodded, actually impressed by his words. From what she knew, the previous Emperor had always left this sort of threads to his son Schneizel and his generals, while Lelouch wanted to personally oversee the empire's situation. That was a big plus in her book.

Without hesitating, she stood up and approached the table, bringing a braid of her dark purple hair behind the right ear. She looked at the map for a few seconds, focusing on the military bases in Europia, and finally tapper her finger at a point in northern France "Here, Your Majesty. If this map is the most up-to-date at your disposal, then I have to tell you that a military base is not marked here."

Lelouch stared at the map "What kind of base?"

"A very small base actually. The hangar for the Knightmares could contain up to twelve, the last time I was there, and mostly there were accommodations for agents like me who also have to operate alone sometimes." said Angelique with a serious face "I've been there twice, and only once prince Schneizel was there in person."

"It almost seems like a safe-house rather than a military base." noted Sebas with a raised eyebrow.

"I know it could give that impression, but besides being hidden, it is also endowed with noteworthy perimeter defenses like automatic turrets and, even though they are now obsolete, there were also several Liverpools patrolling the area." Angelique explained after recalling her visits to that base.

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. The Liverpools were Knightmare Frames of the Fifth generation, used mostly in the conflict between Euro Britannia and the E.U. Their only 'advantage' was that there were no pilots on board, but they were completely automated, even though the same concept had been applied to many Sutherlands during the end of the war. Why use those old models for a secret base?

"Do you remember anything particular about this base? Whatever may be important."

Angelique stood there for a moment "I don't know if it's useful as information, but the whole structure was built by an organization called Toromo Agency."

"Toromo Agency...?" repeated Lelouch "Where have I heard this name before...?"

"It's an organization created by Schneizel el Britannia. Even in the underworld there is little information about it, and it is not known in what exactly they operate, but it seems that they are specialized in many fields." said Lucifer from his armchair without taking his eyes off the book.

"Is that so...?" mumbled Lelouch looking at the map for a moment "Do you think you can find out the location of their bases?"

"I've already tried, and I had no luck."

"I see." shacking his head, Lelouch focused back on Angelique "Anything else?"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I don't know anything else." said the young girl while bowing her head.

"You helped me discover that my brother has secret bases around the world and that an entire secret organization is at his service." Lelouch smiled at her "I'd like it if you could stay here at the palace for a few more days, consider it a personal thank you."

Angelique seemed surprised by the proposal but immediately recovered and bowed again "It would be an honor, Your Majesty."

The Emperor nodded satisfied before getting up "One of our maids will take you to the guest accommodations."

They then all left the room, and while Lucifer and Angelique were taken elsewhere by a young maid with long blond hair, Lelouch and his two trusted men went the other way. After a few minutes, Lelouch was sitting up in front of a screen and beside him was Ash, hidden in the shadows.

"Are you ready?" the albino nodded "Then open the connection to the Paris base."

The screen was turned on and Lelouch found himself looking at a vast array of soldiers at attention, all staring at him. From their point of view, his face had appeared on the huge screen mounted on the military base and they had been told that the Emperor had an important announcement for all of them.

While Lelouch began his speech, the first in a long series, none of those soldiers could see the Geass symbol shining in Ash's left eye.

* * *

While Lelouch was busy talking to his soldiers in Europia, a lone hooded figure approached the main gate of the royal castle, yet none of the guards seemed to mind, as if that person, so short as a child, did not exist.

The figure reached the door before looking up, revealing the Geass symbol in the left eye.

"Lelouch vi Britannia...let's see how much you really are worth."

* * *

**~ Next Chapter: Where the war begins ~**

* * *

**A.N.: Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed this third chapter. A very long chapter came out and I wanted to write more, but I preferred to conclude here! The next one will be perhaps even longer!**

**From my point of view, not much has happened in this chapter, but I still hope you enjoyed it! Now there are some small notifications I prefer to make, to avoid problems and confusions later.**

**First of all: the OCs already appeared in these chapters (Ash, Casval, Lucifer and Angelique) are not appearing in order of future rank in the Knights. Most likely in the next chapter I will also show all the other OCs (at most it will take two more chapters to show them all).**

**Another thing: characters not from the canon show. As you may have noticed I have used many characters from the various Code Geass spin-offs, but also from the novels. Beatrice, the woman who defeated Suzaku, actually appears in the official wiki and was indeed the Knight of Two. **

**Lelouch's new Knightmare Frame, which is very similar to Shinkirō, is the one in the new Code Geass movie: Lelouch of the Re;surrection.**

**Another small thing: many of the future Knights of the Round will have very normal Knightmare Frames at the beginning (such as Lucifer's red Gloucester). The various customized KFs will arrive after entering the Rounds. Casval is an exception because the Glinda Knights use many prototypes and therefore already has a custom KF.**

**That said, I want to thank all of you for the tremendous support you are giving to this fic and I repeat: those who asked to participate, but did not have time to send an OC, can still send their character! If it's good, I'll think of something for them!**

**Hope to read a lot of reviews! Until next chapter!**

**That's all for now, may your day be perfect.**


	4. Where the war begins

**I do not own Code Geass. I only own any original characters created by me.**

**~ ~ ~ AVE IMPERATOR ~ ~ ~**

**~ Chapter 4: Where the war begins ~**

_**[Pendragon (Royal Palace) – 19th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

The first Empress, as well as Lelouch's wife, Cera ci Britannia, was busy tasting a pizza with sausage, French fries and buffalo mozzarella, savoring every single bite, when she felt a new presence near the building.

She looked lazily in the direction in which she sensed that presence and raised an eyebrow "Oh? A Geass user? It could be one of the soldiers of V.V." without turning, she pressed a button at the base of a small screen placed on the table and in a few moments, Jeremiah's face became visible.

"Lady Cera, is there something wrong?"

"We could have a survivor of the Geass Order, they just used their Geass to get past the guards at the main gate." explained C.C. with a calm voice.

"An assassin?!" Jeremiah's face was a mask of hatred and fury "Someone wants to assassinate His Majesty?! They will first have to pass over the cold corpse of Jeremiah Gottwald!"

"Yes yes, loyalty to the Emperor, no one will pass and yada yada yada..." Cera swallowed another bite "Whoever it is, seems to be alone and is approaching the main door of the building."

"I'll stop them at once!" shouted Jeremiah before ending the communication.

C.C. sighed in exasperation before biting another slice of pizza "That Jeremiah is a good knight but damn if he isn't too zealous and fanatic with his loyalty..."

* * *

Jeremiah put away the small cell phone he had just used to talk to Cera and looked ahead with indomitable fury in his eyes.

'_An assassin. Here!_' the man growled making sure the retractile blade in his arm was functioning as well as the gun he carried hidden in his jacket '_Whoever they are, they won't even be able to get close to His Majesty as long as I am breathing!_'

He was about to run to the main entrance when a "Lord Jeremiah?" he caught his attention, and only then did he remember Lelouch's two guests who, at the time of the call, were close to him.

"Is it true?" asked Angelique, staring at the loyal cyborg with firm eyes "An assassin is here?"

Jeremiah watched her for a moment before looking at Lucifer and then back at Angelique "Yes, I have just received news that a stranger is about to reach the main door without any authorization. After what happened with His Majesty's mother, Lady Marianne, we cannot take risks, so I will immediately stop this intruder."

"Then please let me accompany you." said the young girl taking a step forward but Jeremiah shook his head.

"I can't let you that. You are a guest of his Majesty, if something should happen to you, his credibility would be very much affected as well as my honor for not being able to stop a possible murderer in time."

"His Majesty is in danger and I am a soldier of the Britannian army." replied Angelique with one hand over her chest "It is my duty to protect my sovereign."

Jeremiah didn't even blink "This killer is an unknown enemy and we don't know their abilities."

"During my service in Europia I also had to perform spy assignments. Going against unknown enemies is part of the job." said the young girl with a small smile, soon mimicked by the cyborg.

"Very well, then follow me." he looked at Lucifer "What about you?"

Lucifer merely shrugged "I prefer to be alone."

Angelique looked at him with a frown on her face before throwing him a combat knife that she had hidden in the sleeve of her uniform. Lucifer managed to catch it with one hand without letting it fall but then raised an eyebrow, clearly confused by the gesture.

"I saw how you move. You are unarmed." explained Angelique flicking her wrist to get another knife out "I hope you at least know how to fight with that if the assassin should come here." and, without waiting for an answer, she sprinted down the corridor with Jeremiah. Fortunately for them, despite the vastness of the building, the guest section was close to the main entrance and, with their speed, Jeremiah and Angelique managed to get into the huge atrium just when the door was being opened from the outside.

What they didn't expect, however, was to see a small figure enter, wrapped in a black cloak with a hood pulled down over their face.

"A child...?" wondered Angelique, catching the intruder's attention.

"Someone has noticed me? And to say that I didn't see anyone at the windows." asked the presumed assassin with a male voice, which however made his young age evident "Oh well it doesn't matter, something unexpected can always happen."

'_What is he talking about?_' thought Angelique with a raised eyebrow '_Outside there should be at least twenty guards...he killed them all? Or maybe they are all traitors?_' that last thought made her frown for a moment, but then her attention shifted to the intruder who, from under his cloak, threw something to the right and, instinctively, she and Jeremiah looked towards that object for an instant, remaining confused to see that it was only a pebble.

Angelique looked back at the child but, much to her shock, he was gone '_What the-?_'

A sudden blue glow seemed to encompass the whole room and in that instant the alleged assassin reappeared in front of her, with a knife in his left hand. Reacting to the best of her abilities, Angelique raised her right arm and managed to block the child's blade with her knife before trying to hit him with a kick in the chest, but he avoided the attack and jumped back to distance himself from her and Jeremiah.

"Well...this is curios..." said the child looking at them "My Geass was canceled..."

'_Geass...?_' wondered the young girl for a moment, remembering how she had heard that word during the conversation between Jeremiah and Cera.

The cyborg, however, didn't give her time to think about it further because he dashed towards the assassin, sliding out a strange golden blade from the sleeve of his jacket, with which he tried to decapitate the child, who, however, lowered himself to avoid the blade. He then tried to stab Jeremiah's right leg but the man stepped back before kicking him, slamming the child against the now closed door.

Three small spheres seemed to fall from the murderer's right hand and, when they touched the ground, exploded in large clouds of black smoke that forced Jeremiah to desist from continuing his assault. The man jumped out of the smoke, and remained on guard for every possible attack, which arrived earlier than expected in the form of three throwing knives.

Jeremiah blocked the first two with his blade, while the third missed him but was grabbed by Angelique, who began to spin it in her left hand. When she saw a sudden movement of the smoke to her right, she threw the knife in that direction but when the blade sank into the fabric of the cloak, she nailed it to the wall without difficulty.

'_He took off his cloak to get our attention...a decoy!_'

For the third time, a blue glow enveloped the room and, on the left, she saw the child running along the wall. As said, he was a child, about thirteen years old, with short brown hair and red eyes, but the left was a different shade of red from the right one, with a strange symbol in the iris.

The assassin made a sprint for the door behind Angelique, but she barred his way as Jeremiah quickly arrived behind him, and together they tried to hit him from above but incredibly, the child grabbed Angelique's wrist with his free hand, while with the knife in his left hand he blocked the cyborg's blade. That second of hesitation on their part was all that was needed for the child to spin slightly on himself and thus be able to make them lose their balance before running towards the door.

Jeremiah was the first to recover and drew his gun, aiming at the assassin's back, but the child had already dropped other small smoke-filled spheres that created another thick cloud of black smoke.

Angelique spun her knife, grabbing it by the blade, and relying only on the sound of the child's footsteps, threw her weapon into that black wall. After less than a second, she was rewarded with a grunt of pain and a loud 'thud' against the floor. She and Jeremiah looked at each other for a second and, after nodding, they waited for the smoke to clear. It took several seconds, but in the end they saw the assassin's body slumped to the ground with the knife stuck in his back.

Angelique was the first to approach to make sure he was dead, but when she was close to him she noticed a big detail. Only the tip of the knife was stuck in his back and, despite the small puddle of blood beneath him, there was no blood around where she had hit him.

It was then that the child spun on his back, pointing a small pistol at her head and Angelique could see his left sleeve, first hidden by his body, completely covered in blood. Before he could pull the trigger, however, a quick slash from Jeremiah cut the gun clean, rendering it useless, and then pressed one foot against the child's right wrist, pinning him to the floor.

"It's over, assassin." hissed Jeremiah pointing his own gun at the child's head while Angelique quickly recovered her knife.

"Ah now I understand why my Geass was ineffective..." said the child, staring at Jeremiah orange mask "A Geass Canceler. So you were part of the Order too?"

"The fact that you know of my Geass Canceler is a more than obvious proof that you are an assassin from the Geass Order." Jeremiah narrowed his visible eye "Why are you aiming at His Majesty's life? Are you here to get revenge?"

The child looked at him with confused eyes "Why should I? I didn't feel any kind of love or bond for the Geass Order, much less for V.V. or the previous Emperor."

Now the confused one was Jeremiah "Then...why are you here, equipped as if you were to kill someone?"

Despite his position, the child managed to shrug "I just wanted to test the new Emperor. If he really managed to kill Charles it means he knows his stuff."

A strange silence followed his words as Jeremiah looked at him in confusion, Angelique tried to figure out what they were talking about and the child watched them both, almost oblivious to the bleeding wound on his left arm. However, after a few seconds someone clapped their hands and, looking up, they saw C.C. walking towards them with Sebas and Lucifer behind her.

"Okay okay, that's enough." she looked at Jeremiah "Let him get up, it is clear that he isn't a threat."

The cyborg did as requested and took a step back, letting the child stand up. The aforementioned child then turned to C.C. and bowed briefly "It's an honor to meet you, C.C. I heard about you during my brief service in the Order."

"Oh?" C.C. arched an eyebrow "What's your name, child?"

"Azalen Kazen." said the child "Former assassin and spy of the Geass Order."

"Particular name, I imagine it was V.V. to choose it for you." Azalen nodded "Typical of him. Well we might as well go and sit down to hear your story. I have the impression that Lelouch will be particularly stressed at the end of the day."

Cera turned to leave, when Angelique caught her attention "My Lady, if I may ask, what is this Geass you are talking about?"

The immortal witch stared at her for a moment with surprised eyes, but then a disquieting smile formed on her lips.

"Oh this is going to be fun."

* * *

Lelouch rubbed his eyes, sighing. He had just spent several hours talking to his troops in Europia, as well as those in the motherland, and he hoped he could rest for a while. Evidently, his wife didn't want to give him any rest, because as soon as he left the conference room, she had informed him that an assassin from the Geass Order had broken into the building and that, in stopping him, Angelique had learned of the Geass.

"So you're telling me..." he looked at the child sitting on the other side of the coffee table "...that you are thirteen...since at least two years, because you are part of a special project for creating Knightmare pilots?"

Azalen nodded after putting the fifth sugar cube in his tea "Yes, the purpose of the program was to create more skilled and 'smaller' pilots so that they could use smaller cockpits for the Knightmares. I and the few successes were trained to kill like the other members of the Geass Order, but in the end I was the only one left. Also due to the assault of the Black Knights at the base of the Order." he then pulled a small USB stick from his sweatshirt "Here are the few data that I managed to recover. After the death of V.V. the command was passed to the previous Emperor but since he hasn't inserted any special codes any more, all the data have started to cancel automatically as a security measure."

Lelouch cursed mentally. He didn't want to use all that concerned the Geass Order, but those fanatics at the service of V.V. had devised several noteworthy things, such as the cybernetic enhancements for Jeremiah. He would have liked to see at least what they were working on.

"I see...and what are you going to do now?"

Azalen shrugged "I could serve you. I have no contact outside the Geass Order and one with my skills could be useful to you."

The Emperor seemed to think about it and then nodded "Very well, you will be one of my personal assassins and also a Knightmare pilot. However at the moment I don't have a designated base for those with your skills, so for now you'll stay here in the guest section. In order to avoid questions from unknown people, I will grant you a noble title. You will be the only heir of an old family believed to have disappeared for several generations."

The child nodded with a happy smile "Does that mean I will have a personal manor? In that case, I want at least one chef capable of making good cakes."

Lelouch sighed again "I'll see what I can do about that." and then he stood up together with Cera, then moving his gaze to Angelique, currently sitting on a small sofa with Ash "I'm sorry you ended up in the middle of all this."

"You must not apologize, Your Majesty." said Angelique while bowing her head "Yes, it's all a bit absurd but with all the things I've seen tonight I can't deny the obvious."

"Glad to know that you weren't too shocked, even after hearing the whole story from Cera." the young Emperor then walked toward the door "It's been a long day, so I'll go to bed. Tomorrow will be even more challenging. Sebas, I want the orders for moving the troops to be ready before noon."

"It shall be done, Your Majesty." said the loyal butler, walking out of the room with the Emperor, Cera and Jeremiah.

After a few seconds of silence, Azalen looked at Ash "So, how did you lose your eye?" the albino, who was now sporting a black eye-patch over his left eye, looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Azalen touched under his own left eye "How did you lose it?"

"Oh I didn't lose it." Ash removed the eye-patch, showing the Geass symbol in his eye.

Angelique and Azalen stared at it for a few seconds, until the child said "Permanent Geass?"

"Yes, today I had to use it for several hours and in the end it became this way. His Majesty assured me that tomorrow I will have a special contact lens to cover it." explained Ash with a light shrug.

"Several hours?" asked Angelique, still new to the concept of Geass "What's your power?"

"It's called 'Loyalty Perception'. It allows me to understand how much a person is loyal to the person to whom I am loyal. In this case, the Emperor." said the albino looking at her "Right now, you're surrounded by a white aura, so you're loyal to the Emperor." he then looked at Azalen "You, on the other hand, are surrounded by a light gray aura, so you are loyal even if less than her."

"What about him?" asked Azalen pointing at Lucifer, currently sitting in an armchair with a book in his hands. During the whole meeting he had not uttered a word and for a moment they had even forgotten his existence.

'_He could become a good assassin._' thought the child, sipping his tea.

"Gray aura. Equivalent to neutral as far as I know." said Ash with narrowed eyes before looking back at Angelique "Since Lady Cera told you about Geass, did she also tell you that she can grant you one?"

The young girl nodded "Yes, she asked me if I wanted to make a contract with her before His Majesty's arrival."

Ash and Azalen (and even Lucifer even though he didn't show it) now were really curious.

"And...?" asked the child "Have you accepted?"

"Well...I..."

* * *

_**[Toromo Agency's Base (Argentine) – 20th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

"It was a long time since we had a small family reunion. Isn't it, brother?" asked Pollux, looking at his twin who was sitting at his left.

Castor nodded with an amused smile "Far too long. How are you, Cornelia? Always busy with the army?"

Cornelia glared at the two twins "Of all my brothers and sisters, you are among those of whom I would willingly do without." she then looked at the last member of their family, currently sitting at the head of the table "Was it really necessary to summon them, Schneizel?"

A thin smile formed on the lips of the White King "Come on, dear sister, they are family. It is also thanks to them that we have been able to gather so many loyal soldiers. By the way, how much are our troops, right now?"

"We have about forty thousand light infantry soldiers, three thousand Knightmare Frames with their pilots, at least two thousand tanks with their crews, ten G-1 bases, four Caerleon-class battleships and two Logres-class battleships." said Cornelia without missing a beat "Quite high numbers if we consider that they come only from five states."

Schneizel smiled, satisfied to hear that his plan was proceeding without too many hitches. The beginning had been slow and uncertain, but with the help of the rui Britannia twins and the Toromo Agency, everything was progressing for the best. His eyes slowly lowered onto the map that covered much of the table, where the southern part of the motherland was represented.

Lelouch was most likely struggling with the issue in Europia, which would have become much more unmanageable in a matter of days, while Schneizel had spent the last weeks creating a power base right within the empire claimed by his little brother.

'_It was so simple._' thought the blond, ignoring the discussions of his siblings '_Lelouch has never had a chance to get used to court life, so he cannot know that many of the nobles on this continent were fervent supporters of our later father. A word here, a promise there and you get an army of soldiers who are ready to do anything to overthrow you, Lelouch._'

The numbers listed by Cornelia were correct, but what needed to be said was that only a fifth of those numbers were currently in their main base.

The rest of the troops were still inside Britannian military bases, mixed with Lelouch's loyal soldiers.

'_And in four days, when I give the signal, all those soldiers will attack from the inside. The chaos will reign supreme and, unfortunately for you Lelouch, the same will happen in Europia. How will you react?_' thought Schneizel staring at the few nations who weren't on his side '_Colombia and Venezuela will have no way to defend themselves and within a few hours, the entire South Britannia will be in our hands. With a new conflict on multiple fronts you won't be able to last long._'

His thoughts were interrupted when his faithful right-hand-man, Kanon Maldini, entered their dining room with a worried expression on his face.

Your Highness, there seem to have been unexpected developments." said Kanon, handing him a folder of papers, which Schneizel began to read under the curious gaze of his siblings.

After a few minutes, the White King raised an eyebrow "Lelouch is repositioning his troops in Europia?"

"Yes, we checked and all the reports from your men say the same thing. The most peculiar thing is that he is only moving some soldiers, not whole armies." nodded Kanon "The worrying thing is about the soldiers he is moving."

"What is he talking about, brother?" asked Cornelia, trying to get some info out of him.

"Lelouch is moving the soldiers not loyal to him with extreme precision." Schneizel read a few lines again "Many of my agents are being sent to the front with the remaining states of Europia, while those who are loyal to him are being put to defend the major cities."

"How is it possible?" asked Pollux with a frown "Did he discover the identity of your spies?"

"No, he is also moving those who are not my spies but it could be a strategy for not making me understand that he has found them all." said Schneizel with a small frown '_However, this does not explain how he managed to identify them. Did he use the power of his Geass? But if so, why send them away and not use them to your advantage, Lelouch?_'

Something was wrong, he was sure of it. Lelouch would never have done something like that, especially with a power like his, and as far as he knew Lelouch had never met any of his spies. The only time he had seen them was during a series of announcements the young Emperor had made the previous day on all military bases. Schneizel didn't think his brother's Geass had become so strong that it could even be used that way, so there was only one option left.

"Another Geass." everyone present turned to him "Lelouch has another Geass, or rather, one of his allies has a Geass that allowed him to identify my spies."

Cornelia slammed her fist on the table "Another one?! His own power is already terrifying! What will we do if he has an entire army of Geass?!"

"It is not an option." replied Schneizel keeping a calm face "Too many people with such powers would risk revealing the existence of the Geass to the whole world and I doubt he wants to get to that point. No, if Lelouch has other Geass at his disposal, they will only be people he trusts blindly. Most likely his most loyal and influential supporters."

"However, it remains a big problem. Now we know that there is a Geass that allows us to identify the hidden spies, but who knows what else he will have at his disposal." added Pollux looking at the blond "Brother, we may have to change our plans."

After a few seconds of silence, Schneizel smiled again "Not necessarily. Lelouch has made a small mistake that will allow us to weaken him even further." he showed them the documents "What do you see?"

Castor and Pollux read the various lines several times, but finally shrugged, not understanding what they should notice, while Cornelia, who had a sharper mind than they, immediately noticed a detail.

"Japan." she said that word with venom in her voice "He removed a good part of the troops, but did not replace them."

"Correct. To be precise, he removed all the wounded soldiers during the last conflict and the subsequent detonation of the F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead." nodded the White King with a pleased smile on his face "He probably did it to allow the various hospitals to focus on the civilian population, so as to maintain the appearance of a benevolent ruler. However, despite being the Emperor, he will not be able to replace all those soldiers within a few days. It will take at least a week to prepare everything, and by then we will have already implemented our plan...but I think an extra precaution cannot hurt."

Without another word, he stood up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Pollux with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm going to make a phone call...and make sure Lelouch's hands are too full to take care of us." replied Schneizel, before closing the door behind him, with Kanon at his side. The two walked for a few minutes until they reached the personal office of the White King. Schneizel sat down behind his desk and turned on the computer.

After typing something, the screen went black and in the center appeared a green phone that rang. The image remained the same until, after about five minutes, Ohgi's sleepy and confused face appeared on the screen.

"Good afternoon, Kaname Ohgi. It only occurred to me now that in Japan, at this time, it's one in the morning. I apologize for my forgetfulness." said Schneizel with a small smile.

"Schneizel?!" shouted Ohgi looking at the screen with wide eyes, while behind him appeared a confused Villetta Nu "What do you want? How did you get this number?!"

"I will answer the second question first. The security of your Ikaruga is impressive, but a simple encrypted phone call can easily overcome your security measures against viruses and hackers." explained the blond with a light chuckle "And as for the first question...I just thought it was time to keep my word."

Ohgi narrowed his eyes "What do you mean?"

"Simple. It is time for Japan to go back to being free and with my help, you will be able to take it back." his smile was calm, but Ohgi didn't care.

"Bullshit! We know you lied to us! When you were still Prime Minister you didn't have the political power to free an entire nation! You deceived us!"

"Deceived is such an unpleasant word. I revealed to you Lelouch's plans and his dark power, right? It would have been only a matter of time and then I would have succeeded in removing Japan from Britannian rule. In fact, I have information here with me that could be very useful to you and I am willing to give it to you without asking anything in return." said Schneizel without losing his smile.

The member of the Black Knights stared at him for a moment before asking "What kind of information?"

Schneizel clicked a few buttons and, in a few moments, Ohgi received data on the movement of Lelouch's troops, more precisely those in Japan. The General Secretary read those lines a few times before widening his eyes in surprise.

"I see that you understand the importance and value of the data I have just sent you. How to best use them, it's up to you." for just a moment, Schneizel's smile turned cold and sharp "After all, it's the perfect opportunity to claim Japan." and then, his normal smile returned to his face "With this I wish you a good continuation and leave you to your well-deserved rest. Good night, Black Knights."

"Wait-!"

The connection was abruptly interrupted and Schneizel found himself looking at his reflection in the black screen.

"That was particularly cruel, Your Highness."

The White King chuckled.

"Believe me, Kanon. In the coming days I will do worse, much worse."

* * *

_**[Tokyo (Ikaruga) – 21st August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

"What do you think Ohgi will want to talk about at this time?" asked Benio before yawning, without bothering to cover her mouth. After all, it was only seven in the morning and all the core members of the Black Knights, plus some extras, had been summoned to an extremely important meeting.

"I don't know and I don't care." replied Kallen with a frown on her face. She wasn't exactly a morning person.

After what seemed like hours, they finally reached the door of the conference room always used for this kind of meeting, and when he slipped inside the wall, the first thing they saw was Tohdoh's fist hit Ohgi's face hard, knocking him down to the ground. Both Kallen and Benio were shocked to witness such a scene but, before they could intervene, Tohdoh said "How dare you? How dare you propose such a dishonorable solution?!"

"You must understand!" shouted Ohgi standing up with the help of Villetta "This is our only chance!"

"This does not justify such a tactic! What you are proposing is something absolutely barbaric! Perhaps not even the Britannian would do something like that!"

"No, they would do something far worse!"

Now Kallen was both worried and curious. Ohgi had never screamed against Tohdoh and, on the other hand, the miracle man had never been so angry with any of his allies. It was clear that Ohgi had proposed something that was not good for Tohdoh, but to make him react that way...

"What is going on?"

Kallen nearly jumped out of her skin. She had been so surprised by the behavior of the other members that she hadn't noticed Kaguya's arrival with Xingke by her side.

"Lady Sumeragi, I...I received information that could help us get Japan back." said Ohgi with Tohdoh still glaring at him.

Kaguya stared at both of them for a moment before going to sit at the table, along with all the others "What kind of information?"

Ohgi took a deep breath before inserting a USB key into a computer and, in a few moments, the data contained was shown on the various screens of the room.

"As you can see, this is a report on the movement of British troops here in Japan. Many soldiers were transferred elsewhere, all of whom were injured during the explosion of the F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead. and, since they were all here in Tokyo, many soldiers from the rest of Japan were transferred here." explained Ohgi pointing at some data "Currently, all military bases in Japan have few soldiers and only here in Tokyo, Britannia barely has a hundred Knightmares...this is the perfect opportunity to push them out of our lands."

"Have we confirmed that this information is reliable?" asked Xingke with narrowed eyes.

"Yes." Ohgi nodded immediately "Some of our spotters have confirmed that they have seen several military aircraft departing from the airport, completely loaded with military personnel, while few Knightmare are visible inside the Britannian military base here and the city patrols have decreased."

Kaguya looked at the screen with calm eyes before shifting her gaze toward Ohgi "This is very tempting, but I have to ask you, General Secretary...how did you get this information?"

Ohgi took a deep breath, knowing that this was the moment of truth.

"Last night I received a call from...Schneizel. He was the one who sent me this data..."

Predictably, chaos broke out in the conference room. On one side were Tohdoh and others who shouted at Ohgi for accepting this information, while on the other hand, the original members of the Black Knights who were previously part of the resistance cell, tried to support the General Secretary in his decision.

Of all those people, only a handful weren't screaming like everyone else.

Kallen was furious with Ohgi, she couldn't deny it. It was Schneizel's fault if everything went down the drain. Sure, he had revealed Lelouch's power to them, but in the end what had they gained? Nothing! They had simply lost a leader who later became the new Emperor of Britannia.

Rakshata was not particularly interested with those information, as much as to the fact that Schneizel had managed to connect with the Ikaruga without triggering any kind of internal alarm, so she had decided to overhaul the ship's computer system.

Xingke was sitting in silence but it was clear he was about to reach his limit and, a little later, he would have to scream too to bring the silence back into that room.

Kaguya was the last one who wasn't screaming like everyone else, her mind focused on analyzing the information obtained. After carefully thinking about what to do, she looked at the Chinese soldier to her right, who nodded before slamming a fist hard against the table.

"SILENCE!"

Everyone quieted down after that sudden shout, and when calm returned, Kaguya asked "Currently, what is the military power of the Black Knights?"

"In addition to the Ikaruga, we have at least three hundred Knightmares here in Tokyo plus another four hundred scattered throughout Japan and another five hundred in the U.F.N." said Xingke with a calm voice, having already guessed what Kaguya's intentions were.

Kaguya nodded before turning her gaze to Ohgi "General Secretary, although I am glad that this information has come to us, I want to remind you that Schneizel el Britannia is not a person we can trust, and that he always has a plan for everything." the man lowered his head, having realized his mistake "However, if we have had the opportunity to confirm what is reported in this data, we cannot let this opportunity slip from our hands. It is clear to me that the General Secretary had proposed to attack the Britannian military base here in Tokyo. Is it correct?"

"Yes." said Tohdoh with a nod "I'm against the idea. Not only are the Britannian in a state of confusion like us, but they are also helping the Japanese who were injured during the explosion of the F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead. Attacking them now would be a dishonorable act."

"We cannot always look for honorable solutions! We are still at war with Britannia!" shouted Ohgi while glaring at Tohdoh "By the end of the week, even within a couple of days, Lelouch could send new troops and that would be the end for us!"

"You both make good points." said Kaguya "The military base is close to several inhabited buildings, and attacking it could lead to the death of many innocent people. However..." everyone looked at the young girl with confusion in their eyes "We will not let this opportunity slip away."

"Lady Kaguya! You-!"

"This..." her firm voice forced Tohdoh to shut up "...is how we will act."

* * *

_**[Tokyo (Britannia's Military Base) – 22nd August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

"Man, this base seems desolate now that all wounded soldiers have returned home." said a soldier with a sigh.

"You can say that." nodded a comrade to his left "Who knows when the reinforcements will arrive. I don't feel comfortable knowing that those damned Elevens are out there, ready to fight."

"Yeah...the Black Knights are still here in Tokyo but with the ceasefire of His Majesty they have not yet tried anything..." agreed a third before seeing someone walking toward them "Oh crap...she's here."

"Who?" the other two looked ahead, only to see a young woman with waist-length orange hair tied in a ponytail and sharp icy blue eyes, dressed with the uniform of a knight.

The three soldiers paled slightly before standing at attention "Good day, My Lady!"

Bianca Frost walked in front of them without deigning to look up at them, being only a meter and sixty-four high and consequently lower than them. Her cold gaze was turned forward as she advanced towards her office. She was in command of the entire military base, which became the only one present in Tokyo after the explosion of the bomb, and had to take care of all the soldiers therefore she could not waste a second talking to her subordinates. Entering her office, she went to sit behind the desk before turning on the computer, resting her head on the right hand, her thumb lightly stroking the scar that ran from her chin to near the right ear.

'_More requests to send reinforcements._' she scoffed '_How did these people get in charge of a military base? Have they not yet understood that we too are understaffed?_'

She quickly wrote an answer without bothering to be delicate with words. Those were difficult times and she had no time to be kind and to hear the constant complaints of commanders who, most likely, had never fought on the battlefield, unlike her and many others.

After sending the necessary emails, she leaned against the back of her armchair and looked at the empty walls of the office, which was particularly devoid of decorations and anything else. There was a specific reason for that.

'_Now...I wonder how long it will take before..._' her thoughts were abruptly interrupted when a soldier entered her office and threw open the door.

"My Lady! It's an emergency!"

Bianca looked at him with her cold eyes, sending a shiver down his spine "Have some control, soldier. You're not a five-year-old child." she stood up "Now, what's the problem?"

"The Black Knights! They are here!" said the soldier, without bothering to sound calm, much to her disappointment "They appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the base!"

"I see..." she started walking towards the door but then stopped beside the soldier "I want my Knightmare ready to go and...what is your name and rank, soldier?"

"D-Daniel Hawks, Lance-Corporal...My Lady." said the soldier with sweat running down his face.

"From tomorrow onwards, considered yourself degraded to the rank of Private for your lack of self-control." hissed Bianca before walking out of the room. She saw other soldiers running in all directions in agitation, though fortunately there were some who could keep their cool. After a few minutes, she stopped beside a window to look at the situation outside and had to admit that the view was not the most reassuring.

'_Hm...perhaps I will not make official my decision to degrade that soldier._' thought Bianca before reaching the hangar of the base, where a lavender and white Vincent Commander Model was being prepared together with four Vincent Wards.

"My Lady." a mechanic approached her before standing at attention "Your machine is ready to go. Same for your escort."

She nodded before boarding her Knightmare, while four other soldiers were ready to leave. In a matter of seconds, Bianca started her machine and got out of the hangar, followed by her escort, before stopping in front of the thick black gate of the base.

'_Kinda useless when even our enemies have units equipped with Float Systems._' thought the young commander as the gate was opened. The first thing she saw when she came out of the base was a red machine. A Knightmare that she knew very well having been in Japan since Zero appeared with his Black Knights. The Red Lotus was currently about twenty meters from her, with at least a hundred Akatsuki by her side, many of whom were currently flying.

"The Guren..." murmured Bianca before switching to an open channel with their enemies "I'm Bianca Frost, commander in charge of this military base. State the reason for your presence, Black Knights."

"**We are here to take back Japan, Britannian.**" said the cold voice of Kallen as she flexed the claw of her Guren "**You have the chance to leave your base and head for the port to be able to return home, or you can stay here, try to defend your base and die while trying.**"

Bianca could almost hear the grinding of the soldiers' teeth beside her, but she didn't have time to think about that detail. The lives of all the soldiers under her command depended on her decision.

"Very well." she switched back to the private channel "Soldiers, get ready to leave the base."

"W-What?! My Lady, this is-!"

"An order. That's what it is." hissed Bianca turning her machine to look at the Vincent Ward at her right "Now go and warn the others."

The pilot seemed to be against the decision but eventually turned back and returned to the base with the others, leaving Bianca alone with the Black Knights.

"We'll go with the first option." said Bianca returning once more on the open channel.

"**Smart choice, Britannian.**" replied Kallen lowering the Guren's right arm "**For once you have decided to act with a bit of common sense.**"

Bianca didn't even deign to answer her.

* * *

It had taken a few hours, but in the end all the Britannian troops in Tokyo had been gathered at the port and were boarding the few remaining warships, while Bianca watched everything from inside her Knightmare. Many of the soldiers were visibly furious and certainly the shouts of derision from the Elevens didn't help, but they couldn't do anything about it at the moment. They were clearly at a disadvantage compared to the Black Knights and couldn't hope to face them and win.

When the warships finally sailed to the open sea, Bianca moved her machine towards the bow of the ship where she then used the zoom integrated in her Factsphere Sensors to observe the vastness of the ocean in search of something. For almost an hour she saw nothing, but then she finally saw them.

On the horizon there were six huge Britannian ships, oil tankers to be precise.

When they were close enough, someone quickly turned on and off a torch aboard the nearest oil tanker and a small, cold smile formed on her lips as she thought about the conversation that had taken place in her office two days before.

_\- Flash-back -_

"_I'm sorry...what?" asked a confused Bianca as she stared at the screen of her computer._

"_You heard me, Lady Frost." said Lelouch with a calm smile on his face "In the coming days, the Black Knights will attack the military base under your command, and it is likely that they will do the same with all the other bases in Japan."_

_Bianca was speechless. The Emperor knew of an imminent attack on a national scale and did not seem at all worried._

"_Does that mean you will replace all wounded soldiers with reinforcements that can withstand such an attack?"_

"_On the contrary. I want you and all the other commanders to leave your bases and return home when the attack begins." Lelouch kept the smile on his face even when she looked like she was on the verge of screaming._

"_I beg your pardon, Your Majesty...but why?"_

"_For several reasons." Lelouch looked at his side for a moment before focusing back on her "In the coming days I will have to reposition most of my troops, because I am certain that a new war is upon us. My brother Schneizel will probably do everything to keep me busy while he remains hidden somewhere and it is clear that the next war will start again in Europia."_

"_How? The few remaining E.U. states are too few to hope to face Britannia in a new war." Bianca told him with a raised eyebrow but Lelouch merely chuckled._

"_Never underestimate those who are outnumbered. Look at the Black Knights, they were fewer than the Britannian army and yet look where they arrived." he then went on "Schneizel probably has spies around the world and I'm trying to flush them all out, but when he sees the troops moving, he'll try to take advantage of the situation and, if I know him well, he'll send someone to cause trouble...in this case, the Black Knights."_

"_Is that why you won't send reinforcements?"_

"_Precisely." the young Emperor nodded with a satisfied smile "Despite having the advantage on their side, the Black Knights will not attack indiscriminately and will seek a solution that does not lead to the death of innocent people. Therefore, it is very likely that they will try to push you out of Japan using the simple force of numbers. When that time comes, I want you and all the soldiers to leave the base and head for the motherland. The more soldiers there will be for the new war, the better. Also, leaving Japan to the Black Knights, we will remove a possible enemy from the board._

"_I will trust your judgment, Your Majesty." she bowed toward him for a moment before asking "But...what will we do with the Sakuradite? Without Japan..."_

"_Oh don't worry about that." a cold smile appeared on his face and, for once, Bianca was glad that she was on his side "I already have everything ready."_

_\- End Flash-back -_

When the ships were close enough, she made her Knightmare jump on the oil tanker before waving its hand to two Sutherlands nearby, who went to open a large trap door. While they were executing the order, Bianca received a communication from the ship's captain "My Lady, I have just received confirmation from the other fleets that all the soldiers have been successfully evacuated and have joined the rest of the ships."

"Excellent." nodded Bianca while a strong pink glow came out of the open hatch, illuminating her Knightmare and giving a strange light to her eyes.

"Everything went according to His Majesty's plans."

* * *

_**[Tokyo (Ikaruga) – 22nd August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

"A toast! To the freedom of Japan!" shouted Ohgi raising a cup of sake with all the core members of the Black Knights.

"CHEERS!"

A party was in full swing on the Ikaruga while the Black Knights celebrated their important victory where not even one bullet was fired. Despite his hatred of that tactic, even Tohdoh had been satisfied with the results and like him, many others had had nothing to say. Even people like Kallen and Xingke were celebrating along with everyone else, happy that a long conflict had finally come to an end.

"Finally...it's over, onii-sama..." said Kallen with a sad smile, looking at the moon in the sky before sipping a cup of sake with Kaguya at her side.

"The only thing that would make this moment even better would be to be with Lelouch, isn't it?"

Kallen didn't want to, but she had to agree with the Chairwoman. Without Lelouch...without Zero, it wasn't the same thing. It was he who had created that group to liberate Japan, and now that they had finally achieved their goal...he was gone.

"I guess that this too is a kind of punishment for having betrayed him." mumbled Kallen with a sigh.

Kaguya giggled for a moment but, before she could answer her, a soldier entered the room screaming before falling to his knees due to the fatigue.

"L-Lady K-Kaguya...i-i-it's terrible!"

"Calm down, soldier." she handed him a glass of water, which he swallowed without too much ceremony, while the others were now looking at them "What's going on? Why are you so agitated?"

He looked at her with fear in his eyes "W-We...we received a r-report from the teams sent to monitor the m-mines around Tokyo!"

Not knowing what he meant, Kallen and many others felt a chill down his spine, as if their victory was about to turn into a heavy defeat., Kallen and many others felt a chill running down their spine, as if their victory was about to turn into a heavy defeat.

"It's g-gone!" said the soldier, looking at the now shocked face of Kaguya.

"The Sakuradite! It's gone!"

* * *

**~ Next Chapter: War Anthem ~**

* * *

**A.N.: Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I had said that this chapter would have been longer than the previous one, but I preferred to change my mind during the work! As usual, I don't think much happens during the chapter, but in the end it's also up to you to decide.**

**Currently I was hoping for more reviews, mostly from those who decided to take part in the fic, but in the end it didn't matter much, I'm still happy to receive them, be they good or critics. I also want to respond to a Guest who said that I did not even write Angelique's hair color. My answer: the hair is dark purple, and I wrote it exactly when she moves a strand of hair behind her ear. You just have to read more carefully.**

**While for CamTheThief, I understand your concerns but in the end the fic will go as it will go, after all you can't please everyone. I would just like to reiterate that all the OCs you see will NOT be mine, but of the users who created them. The only OC of mine, if you want to call it that, is Sebas who, as I said, is taken from Overlord. The other characters are part of the Novels and Spinoffs.**

**Hope to see your thoughts on the chapter in the reviews and until next time!**

**That's all for now, may your day be perfect.**


	5. War Anthem

**I do not own Code Geass. I only own any original characters created by me.**

**~ ~ ~ AVE IMPERATOR ~ ~ ~**

**~ Chapter 5: War Anthem ~**

_**[Mount Fuji (Sakuradite Mines) – 23rd August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

Kaguya was silent as she watched the huge tanks filled with a bright pink liquid in front of her. Each of those tanks could hold several hundred liters, and they were all full to the brim. In military terms, all that fuel could have powered all Black Knights machines for many months. There was only one problem.

The liquid contained in the tanks was not Sakuradite.

"What am I looking at?"

A man wearing a white coat approached her, nervously observing the documents in his hand "About that...this is...um...jelly, Lady Sumeragi."

"Jelly."

"Y-Yes, jelly...from the tests we have conducted it seems to be jelly to which colorants and strong chemical reagents have been added to make it shine like Sakuradite." explained the man, reading again the documents "All the tanks are full of jelly and it seems that all the veins of Sakuradite in the mines have been looted recently...those known and functional at least."

"I see."

Her voice was not filled with anger or disappointment, nor sadness or surprise. She was completely calm and this frightened the scientist who took a few steps back, returning to the various Black Knights that had accompanied Kaguya. Among them, Kallen was doing everything not to burst out laughing.

They had devised an 'ingenious' plan to liberate Japan, the plan had been a success and in the end they were left without a drop of Sakuradite, because Lelouch had always been one step ahead of them. The increasingly less frequent patrols in the city, the repatriation of all those wounded soldiers, the fact that all the soldiers remaining in Japan had taken so little time to leave without even trying to fight...it was all clear.

'_Lelouch was waiting for us..._' thought the redhead '_Hell, he probably also predicted that Schneizel would give us that information..._'

"Lady Sumeragi." Tohdoh took a step toward her "This is a great crisis for the whole of Japan. It will take several days, perhaps weeks, to find other veins so loaded with Sakuradite. In addition, the Black Knights stocks can last a month or more if we don't fight with Britannia...otherwise I think it could last for a couple of weeks."

The young politician remained silent for several seconds before sighing "Guess we have no choice..."

Everyone was confused to see her walking towards the exit, until it was Tohdoh who asked her "Lady Sumeragi, where are you going?"

"Right now, the U.F.N. doesn't have stocks of Sakuradite large enough to sustain a war. The mines in China are large, but even those pale in comparison with the size of the Japanese mines and, as you said, it will take time before new veins are discovered." said Kaguya, slowing down just to look at him "I don't like it, but I'll try to make a ceasefire pact with Britannia since we're still at war with them."

"That's exactly what Lelouch wants!" said Ohgi stepping forward "Certainly he will ask for something in exchange for the ceasefire and, just to free Japan, he wanted all our Knightmare plus the Ikaruga!"

"I know, but if Lelouch were to decide to wage a friction war, it would be a sure defeat for us." replied Kaguya with a calm voice "The only alternative would be that his attention was directed elsewhere."

"What about Schneizel?" everyone turned to Kallen as she spoke those words "I mean...what was the reason for Schneizel to free Japan? Perhaps he will also want something in return, but right now I don't see a big advantage for him in leaving Japan to us, especially when Lelouch hasn't lost a single soldier."

The other Black Knights seemed to think of her words until Xingke said "Schneizel always has a goal in mind, and he would never do anything without a reason. The fact that he gave us that information could mean he wanted to draw Lelouch's attention to us, perhaps with a new conflict here in Japan."

"But why?" asked Tamaki with a confused face "That bastard is not here in Japan so why would he want a new conflict here?"

"Because, as Xingke said, he wants to get Lelouch's attention away from him...most likely to gain precious time." said Kaguya with narrowed eyes "He is plotting something, and if Lelouch decides to start looking for him, Schneizel's plans would risk being ruined."

"If that was his real reason then he is likely to have a contingency plan." added Tohdoh "Lelouch knows the military power of the Black Knights well and could even win if he used all available resources, but he managed to withdraw all his troops from Japan, effectively leaving the victory to us, but taking away a great amount of Sakuradite. Schneizel must have foreseen such a result and therefore must have another trick up his sleeve."

"The E.U." whispered Kaguya, catching their attention "I was able to talk to the representatives of different nations who broke away from the E.U. to join the U.F.N. and they told me that there are many who want revenge against Britannia, even at the cost of a new war. With Charles dead and a new, young and inexperienced emperor on the throne, many politicians could try to start a new war in Europia to win it back."

"And someone like Schneizel could use their wishes to his advantage..." said Xingke "He could reach the point of supporting them from the shadows in order to make the new war last, so that he can then act undisturbed."

"You are telling me that blond bastard would start a war here in Japan and in Europia so as not to be discovered by Lelouch?!" shouted Tamaki looking at all of them "What the hell is plotting?!"

"And that's our million pounds question." said Rakshata with an amused voice.

None of the others seemed to second her amusement, because none of them had an answer to that question.

* * *

_**[Toromo Agency's Base (Argentine) – 23rd August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

"I see. Lelouch has chosen the lesser of two evils but still managed to take something away." said Schneizel while reading a report.

At his side, Kanon nodded "Apparently he took advantage of the 'calm' moment in Japan to boost Sakuradite's excavation on all the islands before loading as much as he could on the various Britannian oil-tankers he had available."

"A very smart move. If the numbers I read here are not an exaggeration, Britannia will not end its supply of Sakuradite for a long time, even with a new war about to start." to be honest, Schneizel was a little disappointed with his little brother's choice. The idea of taking Sakuradite and leaving Japan had been excellent, but the White King would have preferred Lelouch to have tried to hold out a little "Now Japan will probably become part of the U.F.N. and I doubt they will try to fight against Britannia, especially now that they don't have much Sakuradite."

"This leaves the E.U. as the only way to distract Lelouch." said Kanon while serving him a cup of tea.

"Pretty much. Obviously we will also do something to make this war on more fronts last as long as possible, but if I know my brother well, he will be able to win in Europia within a year." Schneizel looked at the map displayed on his computer "Even at the cost of letting us keep the south of the motherland, Lelouch will try to suppress what's left of the E.U. and then focus on us."

"What about the Knights of the Round?" asked Kanon with a raised eyebrow "Once he receives reports of their battles, Lelouch will try to stop them too. Leaving the central zone of the motherland without defenses would be a grave error on his part."

Schneizel showed a small smile "Oh no, on the contrary, he will use the central area to build an unprecedented defense." he pointed at the screen "Costa Rica, a place like any other but not very big, perfect for placing large numbers of soldiers to stop all kinds of invasion by land. In addition, there are several ports that could counter an invasion by sea, and I am aware of many anti-aircraft defenses that would also cause problems for our airships."

"So...a war of attrition?"

"More or less. Once conquered the southern area of the motherland, we will stop conquering territories, or at least we will advance very slowly, without even committing ourselves to duty, giving Lelouch the feeling that his defense is working." explained Schneizel "I will also leave some of the Rounds on the front lines so as to force him to leave his troops in defense, when in reality the real plan will be to complete Damocles while he is busy playing the war."

"I see, an ingenious plan." nodded Kanon with a smile.

After sipping his tea, Schneizel looked at his subordinate "What about Nunnally?"

Kanon sighed "She refuses to eat as usual. Only when Cornelia is with her does she eat something, otherwise we must sedate her and nourish her through an intravenous injection."

"Mh...after Lelouch and Euphemia, Cornelia is the sister to whom she cares most, but unfortunately Cornelia has already left for her mission and will not return for several days. Keep Nunnally under sedation and observation until my sister returns." ordered Schneizel and, after a brief nod, Kanon left the room.

The blond prince pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. When they had recovered Nunnally, who had miraculously escaped the explosion of the F.L.E.I.J.A., Schneizel had hoped to be able to use her against Lelouch as a last resort, however the young vi Britannia refused to betray her blood brother and continued to hope that he would come to save her.

'_After talking to her about the Geass I was hoping she had changed her mind, but it seems that mine was a way too optimistic wish, and when Cornelia gave her a chance to listen to the radio, Nunnally learned about the good works performed by Lelouch._' he looked back at the computer '_A small mistake on our side, but I hope this will not cause problems later. I really want to avoid having to use her as a hostage._'

Unbeknownst to him, a small mechanical spider with a bright red eye moved away from the grid that covered the air duct.

A satisfied grin on the face of the person who was controlling it.

* * *

_**[Pendragon (Royal Palace) – 23rd August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

Lelouch smiled as the various commanders he had called from Japan were kneeling in front of him in the throne room, head down in respect. They had recently returned to Pendragon after successfully escorting all the oil-tankers loaded with Sakuradite. It was one of those moments when he was particularly happy that his plan had been successful.

"You have all done well, all that Sakuradite is now safe in our hands and we can use it to the fullest to ensure that our army does not remain without resources." said Lelouch before raising one hand "You are all dismissed, you deserve a week's leave to be with your families. Should the situation degenerate, you will be called back into service, but until then you can enjoy the deserved rest."

The various commanders thanked him before getting up and move towards the door, but Lelouch asked Bianca to stay.

"Your Majesty?" asked the girl looking at him.

"I'd like to talk to you in private, Lady Frost." said Lelouch gesturing toward a side door "Please, follow me."

Bianca remained silent but then followed him as requested, and within seconds they found themselves walking down a corridor with Jeremiah just behind them.

"Do you know why I only asked you to stay behind?" asked Lelouch without looking at her.

"The only thing that comes to mind, Your Majesty, is because I did or said something that caught your interest."

"Precisely. You were not the only one to be contacted before the Black Knights attack. I personally called all the commanders who were with you in the throne room, but only you asked why." he sighed for a moment "The others simply accepted my orders and executed them to the letter. Don't get me wrong, I love when orders run smoothly, but I don't need soldiers with no will...I've seen too many of them." after a few seconds of silence, he added "Especially for the new Knights of the Round."

Now _that_ made her lose her calm and controlled expression for a moment. Bianca stared at him with incredulous eyes "Your Majesty...?"

"I've read your file, Lady Frost. You are one of the few who enrolled in the academy for Knights of the Round designed by my father. If I remember correctly, only the former Knight of Twelve became one after having enrolled in that academy." he looked back at her with an amused face "The Rounds should not be something that come out of a school, but soldiers who have shown themselves valiant and worthy of that honor, and you fit into these parameters."

"Your Majesty, I am not-!"

"Although I don't like yes-men..." Lelouch interrupted her "...I don't even like those who deny the truth. You earned your position, Lady Frost. Of course, you are not perfect but perfection is not of this world and none of the soldiers at my service is perfect, nor am I perfect." he pointed at her with one hand "You match the profile for a possible Knight of the Round, as well as other soldiers I have already recruited or recalled here in Pendragon."

They walked a few more meters before stopping at a double wooden door, which Lelouch opened without even knocking. Bianca looked into the huge room that was equipped with all the necessary comforts and immediately noticed the few occupants.

Sitting on a sofa there was an albino boy and a girl with dark purple hair, both intent on drinking tea, while in the far corner of the room, sitting in front of a chessboard, there was a child with brown hair intent on playing against a black-haired boy who looked like he wanted to be somewhere else.

Lelouch looked at the two players with an amused face "Did Azalen manage to convince Lucifer to play?"

"I think he led him to exasperation." giggled Angelique while sipping her tea "Sometimes he's really a child."

"This _child_ beat you at chess in just five minutes." said Azalen without taking his eyes off the chessboard.

Angelique looked at him with a frown but a chuckle drew Bianca's attention to the right where, hidden by the open door, there was an armchair on which a blond-haired boy was sitting. The aforementioned boy stood up and then approached Lelouch and Bianca "After playing against me and Ash, Angelique wanted to challenge that child and it was a very fun game." he then bowed in front of them "Greetings, You Majesty, it's been a while."

"Casval." Lelouch nodded at him "So you decided to consider my request."

"But of course!" Casval grinned at the Emperor "It's not every day that you can become a Knight of the Round." his eyes then shifted toward Bianca "Hello, I guess you're an addition to our team?"

"Yes, she's just arrived from Japan and is currently on the list to become one of the next Knights of the Round like you." said Lelouch with a small smile before looking at Bianca "Like you, these people are excellent Knightmare pilots but they also have other skills that have led them to be selected as possible Knights of the Round."

"I understand, Your Majesty." said Bianca with a bow before walking into the room, only to be stopped by Lelouch.

"Before leaving you, I'd like to ask you if you know soldiers who could live up to the title of Knight of the Round. I have read a large number of files but maybe you know someone who can meet my expectations."

She seemed to think about it for a few seconds, until she let out a soft sigh "There is a soldier who was on duty in Japan, he should have arrived here with my group. His name is Yami Long, and as far as we've never worked together, I know he's one of the best soldiers we had over there."

'_Yami Long? Interesting name._' thought Lelouch before thanking her. After a brief exchange of goodbyes, the Emperor left his future Rounds alone as he headed back to the throne room.

"Jeremiah?"

"Already on it, Your Majesty." nodded the cyborg while tapping something on a small tablet, observing the images of countless soldiers until he stopped on the face of a dark-skinned young boy with cold and uninterested, dark brown eyes "Ah, found him. Yami Long, half-Britannian, half-Japanese. Born in Japan, raised in Britannia. Unknown parents, but was raised by the retired Colonel Galde Long. Above average marks at the military academy where he graduated before being shipped to Japan where, however, he received more than one demerit note for insubordination, brawls with his fellow soldiers and other minor reasons."

'_Nothing striking so far, although I am surprised to know that he is a half-blood. I guess not everyone went in the same way as Kallen._' thought the black haired boy with a small smile, before hearing something that caught his attention.

"Apparently, when he was close to being summoned before the Martial Court, he and his squad were attacked by the JLF while on a fortified base. The commander was killed in the first few minutes of the conflict, however the then Private Long continued to hold the line with a few other soldiers until reinforcements arrived. For his valor in battle he was forgiven of his crimes and promoted to Lance Corporal." finished Jeremiah, handing his tablet to Lelouch, who looked at the screen with a raised eyebrow.

"If they really fought against the Japan Liberation Front, it means I had just made my appearance as Zero." said the Emperor, receiving confirmation of his assumptions when he saw the date of the report "About a week after my appearance, when Cornelia had not yet arrived in Japan. But it's strange...a soldier like that has never had the opportunity to stand out in battle during the whole conflict with the Black Knights?"

"I think it's because of your sister, Your Majesty. She did not tolerate the Japanese people in the army, but even the half-bloods had no way of acting under her command." said Jeremiah, thinking back at those days.

"Fair point." hummed Lelouch before handing back the tablet "Summon him then. I want to see what he's capable of."

"It shall be done, Your Majesty!" nodded Jeremiah before bowing with a hand over his chest.

"What about the other two I requested?" asked then the Emperor, looking at the cyborg who showed him a little smile.

"One of them is already heading here, the other should be contact in moments. Both will be present by the end of the day."

Lelouch seemed pleased with his words "Excellent. Make sure that they are immediately led into the throne room as soon as they get here."

The cyborg nodded once more and, after successfully escorting the Emperor to the throne room, he left, so that he could carry out his orders.

* * *

_**[Britannia (countryside around Pendragon) – 23rd August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

An arrow stuck in the center of a target positioned in a large green lawn and, after that, four more followed, which all stuck in the same spot. A series of applause went up in the air and two twelve year old children, a boy and a girl, ran towards the archer who had just shot the arrows as he placed his bow on a wooden table.

"Big brother! That was awesome!"

"Yeah! How did you do that?!"

The archer, who was a very tall and tanned young boy, looked at them with his bright green eyes before chuckling "Practice. A lot of healthy practice, like the one that would serve you with math and geometry."

The twins pouted after hearing his words.

"But they are so boring! We want to learn how to fight like you!" said the little boy pointing at the target, while his sister nodded.

"When will you teach us how to use a bow?"

"Soon, very soon." promised the older brother with the smile still in his face "For now, let's get inside. I'm sure our mother wants you to go back to your homework!"

"That's exactly what I want." said a firm female voice behind the twins, making them freeze. Slowly, very slowly, they turned around just to see a young woman with long brown hair and green eyes staring at them with a raised eyebrow "May I know why are you here?"

The two children began to sweat in front of their mother's gaze and, deciding to help them, the older boy ruffled their hair "They just wanted to take a break, mother. They arrived a few minutes ago, just long enough to see me shoot some arrows."

The woman looked away from him but after a few seconds she let out an exasperated sigh "Okay, then the break is over. Get back to your homework."

The two twins nodded in unison "Yes mom!" before running away, leaving their big brother alone with the woman, who looked immediately at him "Will you ever stop protecting them, Rohose?"

"Of course not! They are my little brother and little sister after all!" said Rohose with a huge smile, getting a smile in return. His mother then ran a hand through his short brown hair, looking at them with a frowning look since his hairstyle was anything but normal, with his right side shaved and a braid that fell on his left side.

"With hair like this you will never find a girl." said the woman with another sigh, making him chuckle again, but then, both of them heard a faint noise in the air and, in a matter of seconds, they saw a helicopter used to transport troops appear on the horizon, approaching at great speed the Hanbreak family castle. The large aircraft then landed about fifty meters from the castle, in a large grassy area and about ten soldiers came down from it together with a young girl with short orange hair in a Britannia knight uniform.

The young girl approached Rohose and her mother before asking "Oi, are you Rohose Hanbreak?"

"Yes, that's me." nodded the boy, noting how the girl seemed completely against the idea of being there.

She groaned for a moment "Oh God thank you, I could not bear the idea of having to look for you all over the castle. Name's Clementine, and I'm Lord Jeremiah's Second in Command." she noted the slightly confused look on their faces "Duh, he's the Emperor's royal guard's captain..."

Those words seemed to wake the two from their confusion and hurriedly bowed their heads.

"How can we serve you, Lady Clementine?" asked Rohose's mother with worried tone of voice. After all, the previous Emperor had taken everything he could from them and only by pure miracle had they kept the family castle, but for years now they had been tied to living as commoners just slightly superior to the others.

"Enough with that 'Lady' bullshit, the Emperor asked for this guy to join him in Pendragon. He wants to talk to him." said Clementine waving a hand toward Rohose who looked at her with surprised eyes.

"The Emperor...wants to meet me?"

Clementine glared at him "Are you deaf? Yes, he wants to meet you, now get to the choppa!"

Rohose looked at his mother, his smile no longer present on his face, knowing the story that his family had had with the previous Emperor, yet his mother seemed to want to give the new ruler a chance. She looked at him with a firm face "You should go. If anything, It wouldn't do us any good if you were to refuse."

He nodded at his mother before looking at Clementine who was tapping her foot on the ground "Can I go and get a jacket at least?" he then asked while gesturing to his simple shirt and pants.

The orange haired girl rolled her pink eyes "Be fast, I don't have the whole day..."

He nodded thanking her and, a few minutes later, was on the helicopter, traveling to Pendragon, without knowing that the trip would completely change his life.

* * *

_**[Britannia (road to Pendragon) – 23rd August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

"I hope you understand how extremely important this meeting is, Charlotte." said Lucien Barentheim while sitting inside his luxury car, his cold blue eyes focused on the shape of his daughter sitting in front of him.

The young girl with long, straight light ash-brown hair nodded, without any trace of doubt in her amber-colored eyes. The knight uniform was perfect on her slender and athletic body, without even a bend. She had spent two hours looking in the mirror before being summoned by her father, who had requested the utmost elegance and seriousness on her part.

Ever since the new Emperor ascended the throne, her father had done everything to ensure that Charlotte was noticed by Lelouch, as this would certainly have benefited his noble status and, being somewhat adaptable, Lucien had managed to escape the harvest conducted by the new Emperor, which had caused the loss of countless noble titles throughout Britannia. The throne room was tremendously empty compared to when Charles was still Emperor.

When the car finally stopped, the driver got out first to open the door for Charlotte and her father. When they got off, the girl stood still for a few moments to admire the majesty of the royal palace, having had the opportunity to see it only on rare occasions. Then she hurried to follow her father, walking calmly and precisely, without letting any emotion transpire on her face except for a small smile.

After what seemed like hours, they finally arrived at the throne room, and when two guards opened the huge doors for them, even the stoic Lucien was surprised to see that the room was completely empty, except for Lelouch, Sebas and four members of the royal guard positioned near the Emperor.

When they were at an optimal distance from the throne, they bowed in front of Lelouch while Sebas simply said "Lucien Barentheim and his daughter, Charlotte Barentheim, Your Majesty. As you requested."

Lelouch nodded before raising a hand "Lord Barentheim, you may go."

The man seemed to stiffen upon hearing his voice before looking up at the Emperor "Your Majesty...?"

"As Sebas said, I requested Charlotte Barentheim's presence, but I don't remember asking for your presence too." said Lelouch looking at Lucien with cold and firm eyes "So, you may return home. I will make sure your daughter comes home safely."

The man seemed to consider for a moment the idea of replying, however Lelouch's eyes were an all too eloquent invitation to leave, so he bowed again before standing up and leave the room. During this small exchange, Charlotte never raised her head, however if you looked closely, it was clear that the girl was now nervous to be alone in the throne room.

"You can raise your head." said Lelouch and, almost immediately, she did so, looking at his smiling face "Now that we're alone, we can start. I guess you're curious about why I requested your presence."

"I am, Your Majesty." no reason to hide the truth. Even though she had some ideas as to why this call was made, she had no certainty about it.

"To be very vague...it's about your father." Charlotte seemed alarmed to hear that her father was involved, but Lelouch reassured her immediately by raising a hand "From what I can understand from yours and his file, your father did everything he could to make you a perfect daughter. Piano lessons, military training, Knightmare piloting lessons...and all this since you were just eight years old. He didn't send you to an academy but he did get you private teachers and, once you were deemed fit for military life, he made you join the army collecting old favors." he paused for a moment, almost trying to remember something "As a first assignment, where have you been sent?"

"The former Area Sixteen, Your Majesty." answered Charlotte without missing a beat "G.G.D.C.F. 7th Regiment "J" Powered Task Company, Knightmare "A" Platoon, Squad #102."

'_Same group as Jeremiah, just a different regiment._' thought Lelouch without losing his smile "And from that point?"

"I was sent to two other Areas when they were being conquered, and then to Area Eleven a few weeks before the attack by the Chinese Federation." explained Charlotte, having guessed that Lelouch already knew everything. He had read her file after all, but perhaps he wanted to have further proof.

"Where you received a medal of valor as many others. Your job was to defend a hospital near the port and you succeeded in the task despite having few soldiers under your command...and you also received a positive comment from the then Knight of One. However, despite all these achievements, you have not been chosen as a possible candidate to become a Knight of the Round...and do you know why?" asked Lelouch with calm eyes and the smile still on his face.

"I...do not, Your Majesty." admitted Charlotte looking down at the floor for a moment.

"For a variety of reasons actually." Lelouch raised a finger "First of all, your father simply made a mistake in getting you sent to those areas where there was no noteworthy enemy. My sister Cornelia would have been enough to conquer them all. He should have requested that you were moved to Japan when it was now clear that Zero and the Black Knights were a real threat." a second finger joined the first "My father never really worried about the Knights of the Round. If he really cared about the group, why didn't he replace Sir Luciano Bradley after his death?"

Charlotte seemed to think about that notion, wondering why the loss of a Round had not led the Emperor to choose another to replace the previous one. Besides, she knew that when Charles was still alive, there were three positions within the Rounds without any knight.

Lelouch raised a third finger "Finally...why should you have been chosen as Knight of the Round?"

The girl looked at him with confused eyes "Your Majesty...?"

"You're good at piloting a Knightmare, but there are scores of good pilots out there. You have been placed in certain positions thanks to your father's political connections, but now 'knights' who have received a title thanks to these methods are something more than common, indeed even nauseating. You received a medal during your military service, but there are thousands of soldiers who received one. So...why you?"

At that precise moment, Charlotte did not know what to answer. What Lelouch had said was true, every single word. Despite being an excellent pilot, her old teachers knew how to stand up to her (in a Gloucester at least) and the only thing in which she was truly superior to the others was her close combat skills. All those who had fought in Japan with her deserved the same medal, some more and some less. As far as she knew, at least half of the previous Rounds had come to that point thanks to various connections. So...why her?

"I'll tell you why." said Lelouch catching again her attention "You have something more than many others who have come to your same point. Unlike them, you have always worked hard to achieve your goal and go even further, or at least that's what I understood after personally asking those who took care of your training." and that was true. Together with Sebas and Celesta, Lelouch had viewed the files of at least two hundred soldiers and it was thanks to those documents that he had become aware of Ash, Bianca, Angelique, Charlotte and Rohose. Obviously, only a few had moved on to the initial ballot, since most of the knights had been made to stand out by some connections, but at the end of the day they were simple men with no particular skill or talent.

"For this reason, I want to give you a chance."

"You mean...?!"

Lelouch did not give her an answer, rather he rose from the throne "Please, follow me." before walking toward a side door with Sebas. That gesture surprised Charlotte, which took a few seconds before recovering and following the Emperor inside the building.

"You will not be alone, I have two other possible candidates with whom you will take a test."

"I understand. Will it be a test where only one of us can pass?" asked Charlotte while looking around with curious eyes.

"No no, you can all pass if you are considered eligible." said Lelouch "Oh and...Charlotte?"

She looked back at him with serious eyes, almost getting to attention "Yes, Your Majesty?"

The Emperor smiled at her "Whenever you want, you can drop your mask."

The girl looked at him confused eyes before lowering slightly her shoulders "Is something wrong?"

"Not really, but I myself have worn several masks in my life, so I know what it means to wear one." his eyes seemed to see right through her, but Charlotte managed not to look away.

"I'll keep that in mind, You Majesty. Thank you."

He nodded at her before resuming the walk with Charlotte right behind him. After about ten minutes, the three arrived in a wing of the building that seemed much more technologically advanced and, after entering a room, Charlotte was surprised to see Knightmare simulators along with a lot of other machinery.

"Reaching the Camelot Facility every time could be stressful, so I had some stuff installed in here, so I could keep training every day." explained Lelouch gesturing toward the simulators before pointing at a small group of persons.

Looking in that way, Charlotte immediately recognized the famous Earl Lloyd Asplund and his assistant, Cécile Croomy, however she had never seen the two boys who were talking to them. The first one was dressed quite casual, with a particular hairstyle and green eyes, as well as being quite tall, while the second was a soldier, judging by his uniform, with dark complexion, long black hair tied in a ponytail and eyes brown.

Lelouch approached them "Lloyd, I brought you the third candidate."

The mad scientist immediately shifted his gaze to Charlotte and showed her broad smile "Excellent! Excellent! We can start right away!" he looked back at his assistant "Cécile, please start the main generator, I will immediately start preparing for data collection!"

Without saying anything else, Lloyd approached some computers while Lelouch, Sebas and Cécile left, leaving the three candidates alone. The tallest of them then approached Charlotte with a smile, holding out a hand "You too aboard this strange adventure? Name's Rohose Hanbreak, nice to meet you."

"Likewise." nodded Charlotte smiling in return "I'm Charlotte Barentheim."

Rohose looked at her with surprised eyes without losing his smile "One of the big one, huh? I would never have said that I would meet someone of the nobility again."

"What do you mean?" asked Charlotte tilting her head to the side.

"Years ago the Hanbreak family belonged to the nobility, but we had problems with the previous Emperor and therefore we lost our titles." explained Rohose before shrugging "In the end it's not that bad, we still have our castle and I don't have to participate in all those boring court dances!"

Charlotte giggled for a moment "I understand well what you mean. I am an only child, so I have a duty to participate in all those meetings." she then looked behind Rohose "What about him?"

Rohose looked back, where the soldier had remained from the beginning, merely observing them with his bored eyes. With the smile not leaving his face, Rohose gestured toward him and then Charlotte "Come on Yami, come say hi!"

Yami kept looking at them for a few seconds without moving and then it was Rohose who went to him before putting his arm around the soldier's shoulders "This is Yami Long, a soldier who has just returned from Japan!"

Charlotte nodded toward him "Nice to meet you, Yami."

"Same."

"Don't mind him, he's a nice guy but doesn't speak much!" said Rohose looking at her and Charlotte, at that moment, noticed how Yami was trying to push the other boy away with one hand without success "Also with me and him you will have a Britannian by your side!"

Charlotte looked at him with a confused face "Uh?"

Rohose chuckled a bit before pointing at himself and Yami "We are both half-blood, so if we put our half-Britannian parts together, we get a pure blood Britannian!"

"I see..." that was a very strange joke and Charlotte couldn't help but feel a bit unconformable.

"When you are ready..." the three of them turned to look at Lloyd who was smiling "...we can start!"

They nodded and went inside the simulators, settling down to be comfortable inside. After a few seconds, the screens came on and in front of them a vast rocky expanse materialized with occasional rocks and dry trees scattered here and there. After a few seconds, Lloyd's voice echoed inside the simulators "Very well, now we can finally begin! The goal of this test is simple! There is a G-1 base on the other side of this wasteland, your goal is to destroy it!"

As soon as he had said that words, videos in the distance materialize the massive armored vehicle known as G-1, but then the scientist went back to talking "You'll all use my dear Lancelot for this test, equipment is at your discretion!"

"The Lancelot? This will be interesting!" asked Rohose with a surprised voice and Charlotte had to admit she was just as surprised. The best she had ever used was a Gloucester after all.

"Now, your enemies! For this test we decided to make you face particular opponents!" said Lloyd with the same happy voice.

Rohose's smile, as well as Charlotte and Yami's calm, were brutally crushed when a series of purple Gloucester began to materialize in front of the G-1.

"Say hello to the Witch of Britannia, also known as Cornelia li Britannia!"

* * *

"My sister and her knights huh?" asked Lelouch with a small smile on his face.

"We have enough data on them to make perfect digital copies." explained Cécile while sitting at his side in a small room with Sebas standing at his right.

"And we've collected hundreds of terabytes of data about her thanks to all the fights in Japan!" added Lloyd after joining them with his usual smile "That conflict with the Black Knights was a godsend from the point of view of the data collected."

Lelouch had to hide a smirk upon hearing those words. Lloyd was probably the only one who saw conflicts from that point of view, while people like Cornelia instead preferred facts rather than simple data. Shaking his head, Lelouch returned to focus on the screens in front of him, just in time to see the first wave of Gloucester about to collide with the three Lancelot.

"So...a sword and a sniper rifle for Rohose while the other two went with simple swords and rifles?"

"From what we know about them, Yami and Charlotte prefer melee combat, while Rohose is more practical from distance." said Cécile while reading from a small tablet.

The Emperor nodded and concentrated on Charlotte who was the one ahead of the three, now close to colliding with the first spear-armed Gloucester and, to the surprise of all present, took a side step at the last second, avoiding the tip of the spear, before rotating on herself, hitting the body of the spear with the right forearm and, at the same time, striking with a violent right kick, destroying the opponent's left leg. Before the Gloucester could even collapse, Charlotte used the left landspinner to rotate her Lancelot in the opposite direction from before, hitting the Gloucester's head with her left fist, destroying it. In the next instant, the enemy Knightmare exploded into a cloud of smoke and pink flames.

Lelouch stared at the scene with wide open eyes "What the...?"

"That was wing chun, a form of kung fu very famous in the former Chinese Federation." said Sebas with an impressed voice "That was a really good move on her part, despite being inside a Knightmare."

"And she seems like a natural!" said Lloyd with glee in his voice "Sync rate around 90%! And she's not the only one!"

Lelouch looked at the other two and he was not disappointed to see what they were doing.

* * *

Yami jumped over a Gloucester, impaling the one that was behind it, before turning on himself and cutting cleanly the first enemy who had tried to turn around to react. Without wasting time, he quickly approached another group of three opponents who started shooting him with their rifles, but he activated the Blaze Luminous in his left arm and managed to block all the bullets before clearing the distance and decapitating all three machines.

With a rapid series of slashes, he also destroyed those three machines before taking up his rifle and starting to shoot another enemy, lurking on a large rock. The Gloucester immediately took shelter and Yami took advantage of it to quickly approach his enemy before using the Lancelot's slash harkens to climb the rock. When the enemy machine came out of the shelter to fire again, it found itself face to face with Yami, who stuck a sword inside the chest of the Gloucester, which exploded a few moments later.

A single shot more powerful than the others echoed in the air and, looking to the right, Yami saw Rohose fighting with four Gloucester that had surrounded him, however one of them exploded at that moment after being hit by the Lancelot's anti-Knightmare rifle. The Gloucester behind him then attempted to hit him with its spear, but Rohose jumped forward doing a somersault and, when he was upside down, fired another shot destroying his opponent's right arm.

The struck machine staggered before grabbing its rifle with one hand, as did the other two Gloucester, but Rohose shot one of the slash harkens mounted on the Lancelot's wrist and stuck it in the center of the enemy to which he had blown the arm. Before the other two machines could fire, Rohose jumped high and used the slash harken's rewind to move quickly forward, slamming both knees against the already damaged Gloucester, then firing with the anti-Knightmare rifle, using only one hand, to the enemy on his right, destroying it with one blow.

The only machine that remained working did not have time to turn around that Rohose fired the slash harken again, destroying its rifle, before clearing the distance and cutting the Knightmare in two with a sword, while behind him, the Gloucester without an arm exploded before it even fell to the ground.

"Well, that was the last one!" said Rohose with a happy voice, turning his machine to face the others "This is pretty cool, right?"

Yami remained silent, checking the parameters of her car, but Charlotte immediately put an end to their companion's liveliness "Prepare for the second wave, they're coming." she maximized the zoom of her Lancelot's factsphere sensor "And Cornelia li Britannia is leading the group."

"Well better face her now and get it over with. If we defeat her now, there will be no more obstacles." said Rohose before raising his rifle, firing a shot at Cornelia's Gloucester, but she avoided it with ease. The young pilot whistled "Looks like this A.I. is better than the others."

"Brace yourself! Here they come!" shouted Charlotte already dodging several bullets while Yami and Rohose used their Blaze Luminous to protect their Knightmares. When they were within range, the various Gloucester tried to pierce the three Lancelot, with Cornelia immediately aiming at Charlotte, but the girl managed to avoid the spear using the agility of her Knightmare.

'_My teachers have told me a lot about the Goddess of Victory. If only she had wanted to, she could have had a seventh generation Knightmare and her skills were at a level that put her on the same level as the old Knight of Rounds._' thought Charlotte trying to hit Cornelia's Gloucester with a kick but, much to her surprise, the enemy machine parried the blow with the spear before pushing her to the side '_Right, special Gloucester and all, it's clearly superior to the other machines from the same generation._'

She tried to exploit her agility to get behind her opponent, but was forced to avoid several bullets fired by the Gloucester which had followed Cornelia. Using the wrist-mounted slash harkens as whips, she managed to destroy three of the four enemy rifles, but then Cornelia was immediately on her and Charlotte managed to jump backwards at the last second, however the spear of her enemy managed to hit her left landspinner, destroying it.

Cornelia tried to pierce her again with her spear, but this time Charlotte activated her Blaze Luminous and stopped the blow. In that moment of stall, she saw Yami approaching quickly Cornelia in order to hit her with his swords, however three Gloucester came between them and he too was forced to use his shield to defend himself.

"Okay, I'll admit it. Their teamwork is really good." said Rohose dodging another spear before using his rifle at point-blank, destroying one of the Gloucester. He quickly aimed at the machines that were pinning down Yami, firing a couple of shots, forcing them to move away. That gave way to his partner to shoot forward while firing with his rifle, managing to disturb the stall between Charlotte and Cornelia, with the latter trying to move away but her opponent did not give her time and began to hit her with a rapid series of punches that were all blocked or deflected.

Yami then cut the legs of a Gloucester who had come too close while Cornelia managed to respond to Charlotte's assault now that the other was busy. The horned Gloucester tried another lunge with its spear, but Charlotte hit the weapon from below with a punch, destroying the left hand of her machine, before hitting Cornelia in the chest of her machine with a palm strike, sending her back.

Charlotte then tried to continue with her assault but Cornelia raised the rifle in the left hand of her Knightmare, however a precise shot by Rohose managed to destroy her weapon, giving Charlotte time to hit their opponent with a series of punches that brought the purple Gloucester to the ground. Despite not having fought for a long time, Charlotte was already feeling tired and she was sure that the other two were not much better.

'_Even if it is a simulator, the effort to move such a machine is much higher than with a Gloucester. We have to defeat Cornelia now!_'

Aiming for the decisive blow, Charlotte moved her Lancelot to finish off Cornelia, who was still intent on getting up, but another Gloucester approached them from her right, ready to stab the white Knightmare with its sword. The girl was then forced to turn to that opponent and use the shield of her left arm to defend herself before Rohose could shoot and destroy that enemy. Ignoring the ball of smoke and pink flames, Charlotte turned back to Cornelia but had to refrain from cursing when she saw her ready for another lunge, only this time she would not have had time to defend herself and just took a step back to try to reduce the damages.

That damage, however, was never dealt, because Yami jumped in front of her at the last second with both shields active, managing to block Cornelia's spear. Seeing a new opportunity, Charlotte jumped over Yami's Knightmare, ready to destroy their enemy who, however, was about to disengage and retreat.

"No, you don't!"

Another shot from Rohose's anti-Knightmare rifle and the left leg of Cornelia's Knightmare was destroyed, with Yami pushing her back, making her lose the balance and thus, Charlotte managed to punch the Gloucester's head with enough force to destroy it and the Lancelot right hand. The two machines then fell to the ground but, while Charlotte managed to get up, Cornelia remained motionless on the ground and the world around them slowly began to dissolve.

"Did...did we win?"

* * *

"A very good fight." said Lelouch while clapping his hands "The battle ended earlier than you thought because Cornelia was now defeated, so a G-1 base wouldn't have been a problem for you."

The three candidates, tired and covered in sweat, were smiling in front of him, except for Yami who still had the same listless expression as before. The Emperor looked at each of them before moving his gaze to Lloyd "What do you say?"

"I have collected a lot of data that will certainly be useful to me! I think their personal machines will be ready within a week!" said the scientist, surprising Rohose, Charlotte and even Yami.

"Our...personal machines?" repeated Charlotte looking the mad scientist and then Lelouch, who merely smiled.

"Go take a shower and then relax. The next few days will be very demanding for all of us." he then looked at Sebas "Please, accompany them."

"At once, Your Majesty." the old butler bowed before moving toward the door with three still confused and surprised pilots behind him. Once they were gone, Cécile looked at the Emperor.

"With the three of them, we got to nine, right Your Majesty?"

"Yes." he looked at monitors still showing the fight just ended. From what Lloyd had said, Suzaku had had a better sync rate the first time he used the Lancelot, but the situations were distinctly different. However, all three had exceeded his expectations and with machines made to measure for them, he was certain that they would improve dramatically.

"Only three spots left."

"I may have a solution for one of them, Your Majesty." said the Earl of Pudding, surprising the other two "An old colleague who contributed in part to the construction of Lancelot and Gawain has a son decorated in battle. He is a young boy, a few years older than you, Your Majesty, highly skilled in battle and an excellent Knightmare pilot."

Cécile looked at her boss with a confused face before widening her eyes in shock "Are you talking about Joseph Poitier?"

"Poitier?" repeated Lelouch before remembering something about that family "If I am not mistaken, they are a noble family originally from France but for many years they have been in Britannia and are even related to the royal family, albeit very distantly."

"Yes, that's correct." nodded Lloyd with the usual smile "Joseph contributed to the construction of many Knightmare as his family owns one of the most famous companies for the production of Knightmare components. He himself does not understand anything about electronics and computer science, but is a genius when it comes to metal alloys. The material used for the MVS was his idea, for example." he then shrugged "From what I remember he was unhappy that his son had opted for military life but it seems that he distinguished himself in battle for a long time even if then a certain accident made him lose his whole team."

"So what?" asked Lelouch with a raised eyebrow "I didn't see any files on a possible member of that family when I requested them."

Lloyd took out a small USB key from his white coat "That is because Joseph cashed in several favors to have his son temporarily removed from the archives. After the accident he joined the special forces and only recently decided to return to his usual military life, however his father imposed a rest period on him." he handed the USB key to Lelouch "I was the one who removed him from the archives and here are all his data. I don't know if he will be a good candidate, Your Majesty, but since we need new knights..."

Lelouch had to massage his temples to avoid getting a severe headache "I won't say anything...let's just hope that he's a good candidate." and after taking the USB key, we left the two scientists, returning to the throne room.

After a couple of seconds, Cécile looked at her boss with suspicious eyes "You just want to build more Knightmares for the Rounds..."

"But of course! Some trauma has never killed anyone, has it? I already have dozens of designs ready to be created!" said Lloyd with a joyful voice "Now let's go back to work on the data we just collected! I think I already have something in the database for those three!"

Sighing to herself, Cécile merely nodded and went back to work.

"I think His Majesty has told the truth...the next few days will be really busy for us..."

Cécile still didn't know, but those words would turn out to be true in a matter of hours, and in the worst possible way.

* * *

_**[Berlin (Reichstag) – 24th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

General Gene Smilas walked with a calm and determined step inside the Reichstag. All those who met him immediately stood aside and stood at attention. His long white coat swayed to the rhythm of his steps and the visor of his cap cast a shadow over his cold, focused eyes.

The time had finally come.

Today, the world would finally understand that E.U. was not dead, but was stronger than ever.

Finally, he came in front of two heavy, finely crafted oak doors. The two soldiers guarding it greeted him immediately before opening the doors, and Smilas passed by, thanking them with a nod. When he was inside that huge room, Smilas took a moment to admire the imposing iron and glass dome that guaranteed him a vision of the sky as it cleared with the arrival of dawn.

With a deep breath, he climbed onto the small stage built for the occasion, going to stand behind a simple wooden podium where there were several microphones, but no sheet of paper. Of course, he didn't need a script. A single light came on above him and in those few moments of peace, he was pleased to see that there was only one large camera to frame him, with only the staff necessary to use it.

It had been a tough fight, but in the end he had convinced those idiots of the Council to convert to military life all those who had at least some useful knowledge. Radio and television technicians? Transferred to communication teams. Martial arts masters and hunters? Assigned to infantry teams or training groups for new recruits. 'Excess' nurses and doctors? Sent to various field hospitals.

Everyone had to contribute to the great victory of the E.U. against Britannia.

"General Smilas, ten seconds!" said one of the few technicians left to work there.

The man nodded almost imperceptibly and then, a few seconds later, the light above the camera turned green, but he said nothing, remaining motionless with his eyes closed. Just when the technician was about to warn him that they had already started, Smilas reopened his eyes, staring at the camera lens with a burning fury in his eyes that made everyone present step back.

"To all the soldiers of the United Republic of Europia... no, to all the inhabitants of Europia!" he shouted with a firm and powerful voice "The day you've all been waiting for has finally come! The moment of our rebirth is near!"

His strong words were transmitted through all the territories of the E.U., old and new. Thousands of soldiers were now ready for the day that would forever change their fate; all of them were ready to fight once again.

"Our history is full of victories, but today's one will be the most significant victory of all! The one that will change the world forever! Because today, we will defeat the tyrannical invaders and reconquer our land!"

_Near Sankt Petersburg, inside his titanic Agravain, Wizard watched the city with a grin as the citizens awoke from the torpor of the night and, with a simple signal, hundreds of black and purple Knightmares launched themselves to the assault of the capital of Euro Britannia..._

"Britannia brought ruin to our home...our proud people became refugees...and yet, they could not shatter our unity!"

_Spain, Portugal, Poland...thanks to a long series of tactical information received by the White King, Schneizel, all the major cities were attacked with precise and violent assaults by the armed forces of the E.U._

_The defense forces of Paris did not even have time to devote themselves to the enemy forces that appeared around their city, because dozens of large metal capsules rained down from the sky and crashed throughout the city. When the Britannian Knightmares managed to get closer to these capsules, these opened in four revealing as many Knightmares completely different from what they had ever seen before._

_In the chaos that now reigned supreme within the former capital of Europia, a purple and white machine and one completely red began to sow death like __merciless__ grim reapers..._

"MAY THIS WAR ANTHEM BE HEARD ALL OVER THE WORLD!"

Smilas raised a fist to the heavens, pouring all the emotions he was capable of into his words.

"TODAY, WE RETAKE OUR HOMELAND, AND WITH IT, OUR LEGACY!"

All over the world his words echoed like powerful thunders, giving a clear message to all who could hear them.

**A new war had begun...**

* * *

**~ Next Chapter: Twelve Swords ~**

* * *

**A.N: Hi everyone! I start immediately by saying that I am terribly sorry for being missing for so many months! Unfortunately (or fortunately) I found a job at Amazon and it was really difficult to get used to certain work rhythms. I was hoping to be able to publish earlier, but under Christmas, with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc...I didn't have a moment of rest...**

**However, here we are with a new chapter! I really hope you enjoyed it! We have finally reached the decisive moment for the outbreak of a new war and we got to know new OCs, but don't worry, in the next chapters they will all be analyzed better and, in the very next chapter (which will be full of fights), we will see the last three main OC!**

**I am only sorry that those who wanted to send an OC no longer responded to my messages...I had several ideas for them...**

**I hope to see your opinions on the chapter in the reviews and see you in the next chapter (which I am already writing)!**

**That's all for now, may your day be perfect!**

**P.S: A cookie to those who guess what I was inspired by (in large part) for Smilas' speech!**


	6. Twelve Swords

**I do not own Code Geass. I only own any original characters created by me.**

**~ ~ ~ AVE IMPERATOR ~ ~ ~**

**~ Chapter 6: Twelve Swords ~**

_**[Sankt Petersburg (Caesar's Palace) – 24th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

Augusta Henry Highland, also known as Grand Duke Velaines, was awakened with a start by the deafening noise of countless explosions that shook the whole building. The man threw the covers aside and ran to the nearest window, pulling the curtains with both arms, then remaining speechless at the sight that greeted him.

The sun was rising from behind the horizon, illuminating his city as it was razed to the ground by hundreds of black Knightmares. Columns of smoke rose into the heavens as those machines continued their assault without stopping, moving like vultures in the sky, destroying the few Sutherland and Gloucester who had had time to respond to the assault.

A red flash caught Augusta's attention and he turned his gaze to the Catherine Palace, before much of the building was consumed in a violent explosion that shook the window he was leaning against. His eyes immediately moved to the machine responsible for that attack and the suzerain of Euro Britannia did not know what to think in seeing a Knightmare similar to the infamous Gawain circling in the air with the barrel of one of its Hadron Cannons still pointing towards the palace.

"My God..."

His thoughts were brutally interrupted by several soldiers who entered his room, opening the door urgently, before running towards him. Two of them moved the curtains again to block the view, while the others grabbed Augusta and pushed him towards the door.

"Your Highness, this is terrible! We're under attack but we don't know who the attackers are!" said one of the soldiers, running along a corridor with the others "We have lost contact with checkpoints and we are unable to communicate with other cities!"

"Where did those Nightmares come from? Is it possible that nobody has spotted them?" asked Augusta while feeling the building trembling again due to more explosions on the outside. The Caesar's Palace was the most fortified building in all of Euro Britannia, but if the enemies could count on units equipped with Hadron Cannons, then even that fortress would not have lasted long.

'_Only Britannia and the Black Knights could count on such technology...and that particular unit looked like the Gawain...is it possible that the Black Knights are attacking us?_' thought Augusta with a frown in his face, but then one of the soldiers caught his attention.

"An alarm was triggered a few seconds before the assault! In addition to an unknown unit, we have managed to recognize countless Vincent and Gloucester among the enemies!"

'_And the Black Knights don't use those units...nor could they have gotten so many without anyone noticing..._' a sudden thought made Augusta's eyes widen in shock '_Don't tell me that the new Emperor is trying to get rid of me so he can put someone else in my place...but then why attack the city and not send a simple assassin? Damn you, Julius!_'

Augusta was unaware of the true link between Lelouch vi Britannia and Julius Kingsley. Of course, he had immediately noticed the almost perfect similarity between the two, ruined only by their way of acting and the light in their eyes (eye in the case of Kingsley), but he had never had the opportunity to investigate the matter. Furthermore, the idea of contacting the Emperor and asking him if he knew of a possible evil twin did not seem very clever to Augusta.

Therefore the idea that they were two separate people was still very strong in his mind, which was why he still hadn't ruled out the possibility that it was all a plan conceived by Julius, after all that man would never hesitate to kill civilians for his personal gain.

"We need to get you to the Transcontinental Railroad right away!" shouted a soldier as the building shook more than before. The deafening noise of firearms drowned all the other sounds and for a moment only, through the large windows of the corridor, Augusta could see some Vincent Wards flying towards the enemy. There were at least two hundred Knightmare pilots in Sankt Petersburg, but a simple glance was enough for the sovereign to understand that the enemy was in clear numerical superiority.

"What about Andrea? He should be here with the Order!" asked Augusta looking at the soldiers at his side while running down the stairs of the palace.

After Shin Hyuga's failed coup, all the Chivalric Orders remained in a state of turmoil, but thanks to Andrea Farnese, the only Grand Master left alive, the situation had improved and all the Orders had been assimilated within the Holy Order of Michael, thus forming a single Chivalric Order.

"We have been told that he has already started a counterattack near the city with his Order." said the soldier to his right before handing him a radio "External communications are blocked, but we can still contact the units left in the area."

Augusta nodded before taking the radio, while leaving the palace and heading towards an APC surrounded by four Gloucester with the colors of the Order of Michael.

"This is Augusta Henry Highland. Andrea, can you hear me?"

The radio croaked for a few seconds before a calm male voice reached his ears "Glad to hear you're still alive. We have seen many enemy units heading for Caesar's Palace, are you okay?"

"Yes, for now at least." said Augusta but then, not far from them, a Vincent Ward crashed to the ground before exploding into a pink fireball, while the four Gloucester turned towards the threat posed by some Vincent painted black and purple, starting to shoot at them with their rifles. The man quickly got on the APC which started to move at full speed, followed by two of the four Knightmares, while the other fought against the enemy.

"The situation is very serious, where are you?"

"I'm currently moving to your location. We have to get you on the Transcontinental Railroad quickly and get you to the Motherland before these bastards can destroy it." said Andrea before pausing for a few seconds "Me and my men will stay here to cover you."

Augusta's eyes widened in shock "I can not do that! I can't abandon my citizens and soldiers here!"

"Think about it! You're our leader! We may even be a tributary-empire, but that does not mean that this is our home! If you were to die, the morale of the troops would go underground." replied Andrea while the sounds of a hard fight could be heard on his side "We don't know what the situation is like elsewhere, so you have to reach the Motherland, there is no other way."

"You are asking me a lot, Andrea..." hissed Augusta while clenching his fist. He couldn't abandon all those people in times of need, but he also knew that his friend was right and he could not deny it.

He could almost feel the smile on Andrea's face "I know, but you can reproach me properly the next time we meet."

After those words, the radio went silent and the APC's engine noise was the only thing Augusta could hear for several minutes, together with the occasional explosions, until the armored vehicle seemed to be skidding on the asphalt. The man, and the soldiers who went up with him, slammed violently against the internal side of the vehicle when the APC braked sharply. One of them swore loudly before opening a small door to the driver's side "Oscar! What the hell is going on?!"

"See for yourself! That unit almost destroyed us in one fell swoop!" shouted back the driver while pointing at where there was once the road, now turned into a fuming crater.

Before the first soldier could tell him more, a huge unit landed on the other side, as large as a Gareth and with a similar design, but much more intimidating.

"**Good morning, my name is Wizard. Desolate having to jump straight to the point, but I need you to give me the good old Augusta.**" said an amused male voice, through the speakers of the Knightmare "**Obviously it would be much better to recover him alive, but you know what they say...the war reaps victims every day.**"

Augusta and the other soldiers inside the APC remained silent, having sensed the veiled threat. The Grand Duke was to be captured, but it was not mandatory. However, before any of them could react, the Gloucester who were escorting the armored vehicle raised their rifles to fire, only to be annihilated by the Hadron Cannon of the enemy unit, which completely erased the upper parts of the two machines, thus detonating what was left of them.

"**Did you like my magic trick? I made two Knightmare disappear with just one shot!**" said Wizard, sounding almost relaxed inside his unit "**Now, are you going to come with me, ****Augusta Henry Highland****?**"

"**No, I don't think he will come.**"

Wizard barely had time to move his Knightmare to the side before an MVS cut it in half from above. Without hesitating, he fired a shot with his left Hadron Cannon, but the unit that attacked him easily avoided the shot and pounced on him with two MVS, forcing Wizard to fly up to avoid the attack. Now that he had distanced himself from the attacker, he could better observe the opposing unit and, behind his mask, he narrowed his eyes upon see that it was a blue and white Vincent, with a Float System equipped with six wings, slender limbs and, much to his annoyance, what appeared to be a Blaze Luminous System installed on its arms.

When he saw the coat of arms painted on the Vincent's shoulders, Wizard knew immediately who was is opponent "**Andrea Farnese, Grand Master of the Seraphim Knights...what a surprise. Are you here to die like your brothers?**"

Andrea said nothing and opened a private channel with the APC "Take the Grand Duke to the Transcontinental Railroad Station. Now!"

"Y-Yes, My Lord!" said the driver, hitting the gas before making a sharp U-turn to find another way.

Wizard watched the scene with a small grin "**Do you really think you can stop me?**"

"**Does it make a difference? My duty is to protect the Grand Duke, and eliminate Euro Britannia's enemies.**" said Andrea while crossing both MVS in front of his Vincent "**And you are an enemy.**"

"**Feel free to try it, Grand Master.**" replied Wizard before pointing both Hadron Cannons at his opponent "**But you will soon realize how neither I nor my Agravain are opponents to be underestimated.**"

Without waiting any longer, Andrea rushed forward before avoiding two rays of red energy, then managing to approach Wizard, but the masked man started firing using the two shoulder-mounted machine cannons of his Agravain, forcing his opponent to activate the shield left to defend himself, managing to push Andrea back. Pressing further on his advantage, Wizard activated another weapon of his machine and the six chest-mounted missile launchers opened simultaneously before firing as many missiles that exploded in contact with Andrea's energy shield.

A large cloud of black smoke formed due to the violent explosions but, before Wizard could ascertain the damage suffered by his opponent, Andrea surprised him by popping out of the smoke screen with a speed much higher than a normal Vincent. Acting instinctively, the masked man fired again with his Hadron Cannons but both shots missed the target, thus giving him time to operate a switch and, before Andrea was on him, both weapons seemed to open before slipping backward. Both Hadron Cannons barrels closed at the elbows, becoming almost extensions of the limb, leaving the arms uncovered and equipped with two hands that went to grab two protrusions positioned one for each forearm.

When Andrea dropped a slash from above, Wizard unsheathed what were actually two retractable MVS without guard, which instantly activated, thus blocking the enemy attack. Andrea was shocked to see that change, while the golden and black faceplate of the Agravain slipped upwards, showing the white one below with two bright red eyes. Using the size of his Knightmare, Wizard managed to push his opponent away before two parts of the black armor, which served to hold up the two red cloaks of the machine, detached themselves, falling on the roofs below.

"**Well, ready for round two?**" asked Wizard with a grin on his face, before moving toward his opponent and start a deadly dance of swords. Andrea had to admit it, his opponent was very skilled, at the level of a Grand Master like him, but Wizard's machine, despite being bigger, was much slower. Parrying yet another blow, Andrea moved his Knightmare to the right before going behind the Agravain and attempting to hit it with a lunge, but to his surprise, a green shield materialized around the enemy unit, managing to repel his sword.

Taking advantage of that brief stalemate, Wizard rotated his Knightmare on its axis, managing to hit Andrea, but the Grand Master had the quick reflexes necessary to avoid a fatal blow, losing only one of his hip-mounted Slash Harkens. Wizard then tried to defeat him again in a quick exchange of blows, but Andrea managed to hold his ground blow by blow, until the masked man managed to hit him with a kick, sending the knight back several meters before he could regain control.

When Andrea started to move forward again, he was momentarily surprised to see Wizard move away quickly, completely ignoring him.

'_Where is he going? His energy levels are already so low...?_' thought the Grand Master before realization hit him like a truck '_The __Transcontinental Railroad __Station!_'

Pushing his Knightmare Frame to the maximum, Andrea launched in pursuit and managed to reach his opponent in a few seconds, but when only a few meters were between them, the Agravain turned and fired a new volley of missiles, also using the eight leg-mounted launchers. Acting quickly, Andrea moved to the side to avoid all the missiles, but when he was about to attack the enemy with his MVS, Wizard's voice reached the sure ears.

"**Do you really think it's a good idea to avoid all those missiles?**"

Andrea narrowed his gaze for a moment before looking in the direction where the missiles were aiming and he could only curse to see that they were about to hit a hospital still not evacuated. In that split second, he made a decision and swooped down to those explosives, managing to surpass them thanks to the speed of his Knightmare, before activating both energy shields and blocking all explosions. However, his victory was short-lived because Wizard took advantage of it to hit him with a shot from one of his Hadron Cannons and, despite his Blaze Luminous managed to block that death ray, his energy reserves were drastically drained.

When he managed to bring the view back to the Agravain, the huge gray-white Knightmare was long gone and was close to reaching the station. Looking at the remaining autonomy, Andrea frowned, knowing that he would have to finish everything in a few minutes if he wanted to survive.

By deactivating all non-priority systems, he converted the residual energy into his Float System and set off in pursuit of the enemy unit. It only took him thirty seconds to reach his target, but when he did, the Agravain had already re-equipped both Hadron Cannons and was aiming them at the APC from which the Grand Duke had just come down together with his escort.

"Augusta!"

"**Farewell, my dear Grand Duke!**" shouted Wizard with the satisfaction almost palpable in his voice but then, at the last second, his Blaze Luminous System came to life, protecting his Knightmare from a huge volley of bullets, which forced him to stop his attack.

"**You really have a couple of nice big weapons...**"

The masked man turned to the origin of that female voice, identifying a Vincent Commander Model on a nearby roof.

"**But...you know...**"

The Vincent raised a couple of Anti-Knightmare machine guns and Wizard could only grind his teeth, already knowing what was going to happen.

"**...mine are bigger!**"

With a deafening noise, the two weapons roared in unison unloading hundreds of bullets against the shield of the Agravain, which was literally closed in defense since the Blaze Luminous System did not allow to attack from the inside. The titanic Knightmare trembled under the rain of bullets but just when Wizard was starting to think that woman would run out of bullets, about thirty Vincent Ward joined her, starting to attack him with missiles, grenades and even chaos mines!

"Attention. Decreasing energy levels. Deactivation of the Blaze Luminous System is recommended. Remaining time of the Energy Filler: eight minutes and thirty seconds."

Hearing that message, Wizard further gritted his teeth before retreating to a safe distance, while several Vincent painted black and purple came to his rescue, starting to fight with the units that had ambushed him. As the two factions began that clash, Andrea approached the unit that had just dropped the two machine guns before opening a private channel with that machine "Soldier, identify yourself!"

The female pilot moved her Knightmare to look at him "Sergeant Maria Faraday, Commander of the 'Storm Riders' unit! At your service, My Lord!"

* * *

_**[Sankt Petersburg (Military Main Base) – 24th August 2018 a.t.b. (15 minutes ago)]**_

Maria Faraday knew something was wrong. The sun was about to rise, the first rays of light were already visible on the horizon, and she had just returned from her morning run, yet she felt a strange tension in the air, like a calm before the storm. She was already inside the military base, her green eyes fixed on the countryside surrounding the city, ignoring the few soldiers who had the courage to greet her. If she had noticed them, she would not have blamed them for being intimidated, since she was much taller than them, with a height that reached almost two meters and almost one hundred kilos of muscles.

Her platinum blonde hair, which reached her shoulder blades, was always tied in a high ponytail and many of the soldiers called her 'Amazon' or 'Female Bear', although she didn't pay much attention to it. Many of them spoke out of jealousy or envy and it was more than enough of a reason to ignore them, but at that moment she would also have ignored the Emperor himself, because she was sure that something was going to happen.

"Hey Sarge, how was your run?" asked a male soldier with spiky black hair while approaching Maria with three more soldiers, all sporting a strange badge depicting a diving hawk.

When the woman did not answer, the four soldiers looked at each other "Sarge?"

"Something is coming."

"Something...? What are you talking about, Sarge?" asked one of the soldier before looking out of the window with the others "I don't see anything..."

Maria kept her gaze fixed on the horizon, just when the sun was rising and then, at that precise moment, she saw hundreds of black dots rise in flight with the light of the sun behind them. Her vision was pretty good, so it took her a few moments to understand that those dots were actually Knightmares and that they were approaching Sankt Petersburg, and it took her even less to understand their true intentions. With a speed that also left the soldiers momentarily surprised, Maria ran down the corridor and struck one of the many emergency buttons scattered around the base, triggering a loud siren that echoed throughout the building.

"WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!"

Shocked by her words, the four soldiers, along with the closest ones, looked out the window just in time to see a red flash in the sky, before a beam of energy destroyed something on the edge of the city. Without hesitation, everyone started running down the corridor, heading for the base hangar, while other soldiers joined them. In less than thirty seconds, they had already arrived in the huge Knightmare depot, while the technicians were already completing the preparations.

"Several hundred enemy units confirmed east of the city!" shouted a male voice and, looking up, Maria saw the commander of the base wearing only pants and a white T-shirt, a clear sign that he too had just woken up "Moxley, take your team and form a defensive line between us and the attackers! Refran, you and your men will go to the Caesar's Palace to protect the Grand Duke! Faraday, I want you and your Storm Raiders to welcome those bastards with all you got, don't take prisoners!"

"Yes, My Lord!" shouted the three leaders before jumping inside their machines.

"Okay guys, you heard him! We need to make sure that the attackers don't get past us!" said Maria while starting the engine of her Vincent, whose eyes flashed green before moving toward the hangar exit, with the Float System ready to be deployed.

"He said several hundred units, and only sends us to engage them? There will be barely twenty Gloucester patrols where we are headed, how do they hope we can resist?" asked one of her soldier inside his Vincent Ward.

"Don't know and don't care, our goal is to defend the city and its inhabitants!" replied Maria with her machine raising from the ground "Now, let's give them hell! All Hail Britannia!"

"All Hail Lelouch!"

Together with her soldiers, Maria left the base in flight, whose defenses had already started shooting at the assailants, and at that moment she really realized what a very difficult battle that would be. The sky was full of units painted black and purple; most of them were Gloucester, but there were also several Vincent, all equipped with a Float System and armed to the teeth.

'_The Black Knights? No, the color scheme may suggest that, but in reality it is different from the one used by them, moreover they are all units used by Britannia._' thought Maria with a growl '_They must be traitors, one more reason to eliminate them all!_'

With a mighty roar, she hurled herself against the nearest enemy unit before cutting it in half with her dual-bladed lance-type MVS, then aimed the rifle held in her left hand and hit two other units, managing to destroy their Float System, thus dropping both Knightmares towards their death. In the next few minutes, Maria and her team pushed further and further, managing to destroy at least three dozen enemies, but losing four of her soldiers. When they managed to reach the defense line made up of just twelve Gloucester, she opened a private channel with them.

"This is Sergeant Maria Faraday, Commander of the 'Storm Riders'! Who's in charge here?!"

"No one, My Lady! Our team leader was killed as soon as they arrived!" answered one of the soldiers while taking cover behind a building.

"Then I'll take over! We have to keep the line and push the attackers back as long as we can! Never move alone, be careful in the sky and shoot only when you are sure! We don't have the luxury of wasting shots!" ordered Maria before engaging another enemy, but after killing that pilot, she heard a powerful explosion behind her.

Looking in that direction, she was shocked to see the Catherine Palace consumed by the flames '_The enemy has already reached that point? What the hell are Refran and his soldiers doing?_'

Opening a channel, she called for her comrade "Refran, this is Faraday! The Catherine Palace has been badly damaged, where are you?"

"The Sergeant is dead, My Lady!" screamed an unknown soldier "There's a huge Knightmare, similar to a Gareth! It's killing everyo-GAH!"

Maria frowned. The enemy also had something similar to a Gareth? Who the hell were these bastards? She tried to contact the allied unit again, but nobody answered her and she understood that there was no longer anyone who could answer her. Now the biggest problem was that the Grand Duke was virtually defenseless since she didn't know what kind of defenses the Caesar's Palace had. Having to act quickly, she contacted the military base from which she left and the commander replied in a clearly agitated voice "Faraday, what do you want? We're busy here, the enemy is pushing Moxley back!"

'_Yes, you are busy trying to save your asses._' thought Maria, having no problem imagining the commander as he was looking for a way to leave the city in order to save himself "Commander, Refran's team has been intercepted, and most likely eliminated, by a single Gareth-like unit. I request orders."

She distinctly heard a noisy blasphemy on the other side before the commander asked her "What about the Grand Duke?!"

"Status unknown."

More blasphemies on the other side, but then someone seemed to speak to the commander who then immediately reported to Maria "We have received a communication that the Grand Duke is reaching the Transcontinental Railroad Station with an APC, but he has only two Gloucester guarding him!"

Maria considered for a moment the idea of insulting those soldiers of Euro Britannia. She was the daughter of a Britannian nobleman and had always fought on the front of Britannia; only recently had she been sent to the tributary-empire, yet her impression of those soldiers was not the best. The Grand Duke was practically the equivalent of the Emperor, how could he not be surrounded by armed guards? Using the zoom of her Factsphere Sensor, while her soldiers kept the enemies away from her, she looked in the direction of the station and noticed a large black Knightmare flying in the area nearby.

'_That must be the wanna-be-Gareth._' she thought with narrowed eyes "Commander, I have a view on the mysterious unit. It is flying near the station and it is very likely that it will intercept the Grand Duke's APC. I request permission to reach him and join the escort."

"Andrea Farnese, the Grand Master of the Holy Order of Raphael is moving to intercept the enemy unit. Hold your position and fend off the enemy!" shouted the commander before ending the communication.

Maria frowned again, the fact that a Grand Master was with them was a good thing but there were too many enemies, even for someone like Andrea Farnese. Shaking her head, she looked back at the enemy unit, who was probably the commander of the assault forces, and saw him fighting with a strange blue and white Vincent.

'_That must be Andrea...but it doesn't look good._' she may not have been an expert observer, but she had fought alongside the former Knight of Seven, Suzaku Kururugi, during the war in Europia and knew that both of those fighters were on the same level, but the enemy unit had more powerful weapons and numerical superiority. Looking towards her soldiers, Maria saw that the enemy was slowly advancing and, even if one of them died, three machines immediately took its place.

"At this rate we will not go anywhere and die before the Grand Duke can leave the city..." she said before opening the channel with the surrounding soldiers "To all the troops, retreat! Half will give cover, the other half will step back and so on! We have to get to the Transcontinental Railroad Station before it's too late!"

"What about holding the line?" asked a soldier while moving back with his Gloucester.

"The city is lost, soldier." said Maria with a grim voice "We don't have enough Knightmares to deal with such an invasion, and the best we can do is get the Grand Duke out of the city!"

The soldiers could only accept her reasoning before advancing into the city center, with the Gloucester on the ground blocking the enemy units in the middle of the streets while the Storm Riders eliminated the threats too close from above. Looking momentarily at the clash between Andrea and the enemy commander, Maria saw that the huge black Knightmare was literally full of tricks and she wasn't sure that they would arrive at the station in time.

"Oliver, take command and reach me at the station as soon as possible. I will go ahead and intercept any hostiles!"

"Yes, My Lady!"

Turning her Knightmare, Maria left for the station while keeping a glance on the clash between Andrea and that black unit, when however she noticed a small destroyed military base. She observed what remained of the building with a dark expression, recognizing the work of a Hadron Cannon, but in the midst of those rubble, she saw some weapons still in good condition and, among them, a couple of Anti-Knightmare machine guns.

Quickly sheathing her MVS and the rifle, Maria lowered herself to grab those two weapons and after equipping them, she started advancing towards the station, without encountering any enemy, until she landed on a building next to the large building. She had just the time to observe the surroundings that an APC arrived from which Augusta Henry Highland came down with several soldiers and, one second later, the black unit appeared above them, pointing both of them at the armored vehicle.

"**Farewell, my dear Grand Duke!**" shouted the pilot of that Knightmare with the satisfaction almost palpable in his voice but then, Maria pulled the trigger of her weapons and the Blaze Luminous System of the enemy came to life, protecting the Knightmare from a huge volley of bullets.

"**You really have a couple of nice big weapons...**" said Maria with a grin on her face as the machine turned to look at her.

"**But...you know...**"

She raised both Anti-Knightmare machine guns, aiming them again against her enemy.

"**...mine are bigger!**"

Continuing to fire without letting go of the triggers, Maria noticed that the number of ammunition was rapidly decreasing, but then her IFF informed her of the arrival of reinforcements and, an instant later, the rest of the Storm Riders appeared behind her to support their commander. Each of them used all the explosives available to attack the green shield that was protecting the enemy unit, then forcing it to move away as several enemy Vincent joined the fight.

"Defend the Grand Duke, they must not pass!" she shouted on the radio while the Gloucester she had saved earlier joined the defense forces.

"Soldier, identify yourself!"

She was momentarily surprised by the voice, which she recognized as Andrea Farnese's, and turned her Vincent towards his machine, replying on the private channel opened by him "Sergeant Maria Faraday, Commander of the 'Storm Riders' unit! At your service, My Lord!"

"Sergeant Faraday, I need you to assist me in protecting this station while the Grand Duke gets on the Transcontinental Railroad, but there are several civilians inside and knowing him he will want to save them all, so it may take a while." said Andrea before moving to destroy an enemy Gloucester.

"Copy that." she nodded before shooting with her machine guns, managing to destroy at least ten enemies before running out of bullets. Dropping the weapons on the ground, she drew her swords and began to fight melee with her opponents. Around them, the battle continued unending until a ray of red energy wiped out two of her men, shocking the whole team.

"Matthew! Lucas!" one of the soldiers looked at the form of the Agravain as it was standing on a roof with both arms pointing at them "That bastard is dead!"

"Don't move! He has a Blaze Luminous System and too many close allies! Shoot from here and have him keep his defense active!" ordered Maria with the soldiers following her orders, but then, Andrea contacted her once more.

"Sergeant Faraday, how much energy do you have left?"

"About forty percent. I can fight for a little while longer." said Maria, wondering why he was asking her that question.

"Good, then please land a moment behind that building." said Andrea before landing near a huge school, using it as a cover, with Maria who landed at his side. The woman understood what the Grand Master wanted to do. He probably had little energy and wanted to swap their Energy Fillers to continue fighting. She didn't like the idea very much, because it would have meant to remain with an almost discharged unit, but in that situation she couldn't say no to him.

"Now, give me that Vincent. The controls of my Knightmare are very similar, with only a few differences."

She looked at him with confused eyes as he opened the cockpit, showing his serious face "Beg pardon, sir...?"

"We need to exchange Knightmares. Mine has only fifteen minutes of autonomy but if I want to fight until the Grand Duke is safe, I can't risk it." said Andrea without missing a beat, gesturing for her to get out of her cockpit.

She opened it as requested, still looking at him with confused eyes "But sir, you can have my Energy Filler!"

"That wouldn't work. Despite being a Knightmare based on the Vincent, it's very different on the inside; it has three Energy Fillers instead of one, and they are made differently." explained Andrea with a very small smile on his face "And now I entrust it to you."

She looked completely floored by his words "My Lord...?"

"As soon as the Grand Duke informs me that he can leave, you and your unit will go with him and escort the train until you are out of danger, after which you will continue with him until you reach the Motherland." ordered Andrea while jumping on the shoulder of her Knightmare "I'll stay here and cover you."

"But sir, why? You may be a Grand Master, but if you were to stay here..."

"I know, and I also know that I could just ask you and your team to stay here and cover our retreat...but it's not my style to send soldiers to death." said Andrea while gesturing to his Vincent with one hand "I watched you for a few seconds, and I understand that you are an excellent pilot...however in a simple Vincent like yours you wouldn't last long against that huge Knightmare."

Maria looked at him for a moment before jumping on the other cockpit "So are you asking me to leave...?"

"Yes. You also must protect the Grand Duke, he's the symbol of Euro Britannia." Andrea went to sit inside his new Knightmare before checking the Frame's controls.

"We could always protect the moving train to the safe zone...they couldn't have occupied all of Russia." said Maria looking at the Grand Master who merely shook his head.

"It would only take one lucky hit from that Hadron Cannon to destroy the train and only my Knightmare has a Blaze Luminous System, but it has too little energy to block more than one shot. The best solution is to block him here, while you run away. With the autonomy of your Knightmare I should be able to keep it at bay." Andrea looked at the pilot who was staring at the inside of her new Knightmare with a frown "One last thing."

Maria looked back at him and the Grand Master pulled his sword from his belt, before tossing it at the woman who caught it with ease, staring at that weapon so finely worked, with black scabbard and hilt and the guard in the shape of golden eagle wings.

"That is the sword as Grand Master of my Order. Show it to Augusta, he will understand." he said before closing the cockpit. With a sudden gust of wind, the Vincent was again in the sky, shooting at the enemies who were getting too close.

"All units, this is Andrea Farnese, Grand Master of the Holy Order of Raphael. I took control of Sergeant Faraday's Knightmare. Storm Riders, as soon as you receive the signal, stop fighting and follow the train with the Grand Duke on board. You have to protect it at the cost of your life." said the blonde man while cutting a Vincent in half "Soldiers of Euro Britannia!"

Below him, all the Gloucester still standing stopped fighting for a moment to listen to his words.

What he was about to say was more difficult than he thought, but he could not do otherwise "Our duty is to protect our home, and the Grand Duke is the symbol of Euro Britannia! We can't let him die, so I ask you to stay by my side and protect him as long as you have life in your body!"

For a few moments, none of them answered, but then "I'm with you, My Lord!"

"We'll protect him!"

"For Euro Britannia!"

"Let's kill these bastards!"

"Very well. In that case, All Hail Euro Britannia!" shouted Andrea diving against the enemies while the Gloucester on the ground started to fight again with more ferocity than before.

"All Hail Augusta!"

In the few minutes that followed, the battle became more bloody than ever as both sides lost several soldiers. Maria was back in action, but was forced to stay behind because of the low energy levels of her new Knightmare, furious at having to see her men die without being able to help them. She had just managed to cut a Vincent in half when Andrea contacted her and her squad.

"Storm Raiders, it is time. The train is already leaving the station."

Continuing to fire their rifles, the soldiers remained under Maria's command stepped back to the front and followed the tracks in the distance, but she remained in place for a few seconds before making a brief bow with her Knightmare "Even if it was for a short time, it was an honor to fight alongside you."

Andrea nodded back "The honor was all mine. Now go!"

Maria immediately turned her Knightmare Frame around and reunited with her soldiers, managing to get close to the train easily. It was very large, almost too much for a train, but after more than twelve passenger carriages, there were five uncovered wagons used for freight transport, and they were all empty. Giving directions to her team, she landed on one of them together with another soldier, for a total of ten Knightmares, while the others remained in flight to protect the train.

Back with Andrea, the Grand Master launched his assault on the enemies, destroying as many as possible, while the Gloucester left with him were now only seven. A powerful beam of red energy and several missiles destroyed four more and Andrea immediately looked at Wizard's Knightmare, always at a safe distance.

Narrowing his gaze, Andrea started shooting at him with his rifle to force the masked man to use the Agravain's defenses, getting closer while trying to finish the fight. Behind him, two more Gloucester were eliminated by the enemies, and the last two remaining continued to fight, regardless of the numerical inferiority.

Pushing his machine to the max, the Grand Master managed to avoid several shots before arriving in front of the Agravain which had just raised both Hadron Cannons to try to hit him, but when Wizard fired, Andrea was now too close and the two rays of red energy destroyed only the wings of his Float System. Raising his MVS, Andrea was ready to defeat his opponent, being now too close for the Blaze Luminous to start working, but just when he was about to give him the coup-de-grace, he saw two hip-mounted four tube-launchers pointing towards him and his machine.

In that single instant, the Grand Master wondered if Wizard wanted to risk hitting him with rockets from so close, but then eight Slash Harkens were shot out of the tube-launchers. Four destroyed his Vincent's arms, while the other four hit the chest and waist, knocking the Knightmare down the street. Andrea's Vincent crashed into the wall of a house before collapsing on the ground. Inside its cockpit, the man coughed up some blood as several alarm messages flashed on the screens that remained active.

'_So this is the best I can do..._' he suppressed a grimace of pain as he felt his left arm bent at a strange angle '_It looks like I will join you sooner than expected, Michele..._'

Using his right hand, he pulled a small emergency lever, forcing the cockpit to open, before crawling out of it, falling badly to the ground, while the Agravain landed next to him. A few seconds later, Wizard exited his Knightmare and went down to the ground, calmly approaching the downed knight.

"My compliments, my dear Grand Master." said the masked man, clapping his hands "You managed to slow me down enough and you also killed several of my soldiers. They weren't just terrorists, you know?" he turned his gaze to the last enemy Gloucester as he was destroyed by his troops "Too bad it won't do any good. We came from the east and in which direction does that beautiful train go? East! My soldiers will have already destroyed the railroads and in no time, the Grand Duke will be our prisoner."

A faint laugh attracted Wizard's attention, who looked down at Andrea.

"Do you really think...there was only one rail...available?"

"Obviously not, we destroyed two of them as we approached the city...and a little while ago we discovered that there is also a very large underground line, built in secret..." Wizard smirked at him "That too will be completely destroyed."

Instead of stopping, Andrea laughed again after throwing up some blood.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Didn't it seem strange...to you that...there were so few...knights of my Order during the assault...?" asked the Grand Master, making Wizard frown.

Bringing a hand to his right ear, he pressed the small communication device "Demolition Team, this is Wizard." he got only silence in response "Demolition Team, answer me!"

"They are...all...dead..." hissed Andrea with a grin on his face "When you attacked the city...I sent most of my troops...to defend the accesses to the underground line...my best knights..."

The man in black and white glared at him "So you're telling me you've sacrificed the city just to get Augusta out of here?"

"He's the...symbol of Euro Britannia...he must live..."

Wizard snarled at him before taking out a gun from under his suit, immediately removing the safety catch and pointing the weapon at the Grand Master's head "Any last words, Andrea Farnese?"

Andrea could already feel his body slowly go out, evidently he had suffered more damage than expected in the last crash, but it didn't matter. His mission was accomplished.

Without showing any fear, he smiled at Wizard.

"All Hail...Euro...Britannia..."

Despite the clamor of the battles in the city, a gunshot echoed in the now deserted street.

* * *

Sankt Petersburg had now disappeared on the horizon and the sun was high in the sky, but Maria paid no attention to that, keeping her eyes fixed on the Knightmare that belonged to Andrea Farnese. The soldier was seated outside the last passenger wagon, just two meters away from the Vincent, with only a thermal blanket on her shoulders to protect her from the wind.

After leaving the station, the train had traveled almost the entire city before descending into an underground passageway wide enough to allow her soldiers to fly alongside the train. Those had been minutes of extreme tension, with everyone thinking that the enemy would attack them at any moment, but when they were now outside the city limits, they had been joined by about forty Gloucester painted white and blue, knights of the Holy Order of Michael that had protected the passage under orders of the Grand Master. Those equipped with the Float System had joined the Storm Raiders in flight; the others had used the railroads to travel faster behind and in front of the train, while Maria and her fellow soldiers who had landed on the empty freight wagons, had been welcomed by some Euro Britannia soldiers.

The moment when Augusta had set his gaze on her, and on the sword that she had with her, he understood everything and did not need words to express his sadness. For her part, Maria had done nothing to attempt to approach him and had simply stayed close to the Knightmares, after ordering her men to rest for a few hours. The carriages were full of civilians, but there was still some space to make everyone comfortable.

"May I join you?" asked a male voice at her right and, looking in that direction, Maria was surprised to see the Grand Duke with a thermal blanket on his shoulders.

She, an experienced soldier wearing only a jogging suit, running shoes and a blanket on her shoulders. He, the Grand Duke of Euro Britannia wearing only a nightgown, boots taken who knows where and a blanket on his shoulders like her. If the situation had not been so tragic, Maria would have laughed.

Moving a little further, she nodded to the man who sat down beside her.

Augusta was silent for a long time, observing his old friend's Knightmare, until he decided to speak with a small smile on his face "I still remember when Andrea became Grand Master with his friend Michele. They were good soldiers, excellent commanders and great friends...but now that both are dead, it seems to me that I have lost a part of myself." he looked at Maria "You and your men are from Britannia, correct?"

"Yes, Your Highness." nodded the young woman "I was sent here in the short period when there was no Emperor. Next week I should have gone back to the Motherland."

"It seems then that you will have to anticipate your return home." said Augusta with the small smile still on his face, before asking "Was he calm when he entrusted you with his Knightmare?"

Maria nodded "He had a smile on his face. A very small one."

"How typical of him." chuckled Augusta before getting up and turning to get inside the carriage, but then Maria stopped him.

"You should take this."

The Grand Duke looked at her, noting that Maria was offering him the sword received from Andrea.

"Did he tell you to give it to me?" she shook her head and Augusta smiled at her "Then we're good, it's yours. Take care of that blade and his Knightmare, they could serve well you in the future."

Maria lowered the sword, strapping it to her side, before turning to look at the machine entrusted to her by the Grand Master "What is its name?"

Augusta looked at the Knightmare as well with a proud smile "Seraph Vincent." and after those words, he left Maria alone.

The young woman looked at it for several minutes before showing a small smile "Seraph Vincent, huh?"

Despite the movement of the train, she managed to stand up and approach the machine before placing a hand against one of its legs.

"Nice to meet you, partner."

* * *

_**[France (Paris) – 24th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

Akito Hyuga was walking through the deserted streets of Paris when he stopped to look up and admire the Eiffel Tower, one of the few symbols of the city that had not been damaged or destroyed by the fights occurred barely two hours earlier. Everything had been so rapid, in less than thirty minutes the defense forces of Paris had been suppressed and the city regained. Shin and his unit had eliminated most of the enemy Knightmares in the center of the city along with the headquarters, now reduced to a pile of rubble, while the rest of the assault forces had crushed the Britannian soldiers who were defending the perimeter of Paris.

Now the city seemed deserted. There were no celebrations, crowds in jubilation for the battle won or for the arrival of their liberators. When the last soldier in defense of Paris had also been neutralized, even though many soldiers from Britannia had been captured, people had closed themselves in their houses for fear of being arrested, mistreated or worse.

Akito understood why, after all to the citizens of Paris, Emperor Lelouch had seemed as a perfect ruler after all the changes he had made to the empire. Citizens of Britannia and Europia were all considered to be on the same level, the nobles who took advantage of their status had been stripped of their privileges and every single conflict had been stopped, except for any terrorist groups too dangerous to be left alone.

On the other hand, what had Akito, and all the other soldiers who participated in that reconquest mission, done? They had brought the war back, causing who knows how many deaths and damage around the continent. Of course, their mission had proved successful. He had already had occasion to receive news that most of Europe was in their hands again, with the exception of Portugal, part of Spain, most part of Russia; and with the exception of a few hearths of resistance, in all the major cities of the continent the E.U.'s blue flag was flying.

"There you are, Akito! We've been looking for you!" said a female voice behind him, forcing the blue-haired soldier to turn around in order to see his companions approaching him on board their Alexander. When the three blue machines stopped a few meters from him, their respective cockpits opened, allowing the pilots to exit and Akito immediately noticed their happy looks, in addition to the fact that Ayano was eating something on a toothpick.

"Takoyaki!" said the only girl of the group "We went to the Île de la Cité to bring them some supplies and they were delighted to find out that we were Japanese like them. I think they are still celebrating with the rest of the team."

"They would be the only ones." said Akito looking back at the titanic tower.

"Oi, do not be a spoilsport. We won! What's the problem?" growled Ryo with a frown on his face.

"We won a battle impossible to lose and damaged the city. Leila had told me that Paris was a city full of life and beauty. Perhaps you want to tell me that you see that?" asked back their leader with his emotionless voice.

"Are you referring to the fact that the citizens did not welcome us as heroes?" Yukiya shrugged with a small smile "I don't care much about what they think. What I do know is that now that we have won, Smilas will do everything to create perfect areas for the Japanese without keeping them in cages."

"Something that Emperor Lelouch had already done." noted Akito without looking back, and this time, it was Ayano who frowned at him.

"For God's sake, what's wrong with you, Akito? We have taken almost all of Europia from Britannia's hands! We could almost resign and return to Japan to live like normal people."

"In fact, all Britannian soldiers have left Japan and the U.F.N. has officially annexed it." Yukiya said while remembering what he had read in some reports "It would be the best time to go home, and I think the rest of the wZERO Squad would like to come with us too."

Ryo and Ayano seemed to agree with him, but when Akito was about to answer him, he felt the ground tremble slightly and, a few seconds later, a particular red Alexander appeared in front of him, observing the young soldier with its three bright green eyes "**Got you! I've been searching for you guys!**"

"Ashley." nodded Akito "What are you doing here?"

"**Nothing in particular, but I have just received confirmation regarding our assault forces in St. Petersburg. Apparently the Grand Duke managed to escape, but the commander who led the assault killed ****Andrea Farnese,****Grand Master of the Holy Order of Raphael.**"

Akito and the others seemed surprised by his words until Ryo asked "Oi, if he was a Grand Master does that mean he was on the same level as that bastard of Shin?"

"**In terms of rank yes, but from what I've heard around, Andrea was clearly superior in terms of piloting skills. I have never seen him fight in person since we were in two different Holy Orders.**" the cockpit of his Knightmare opened and an orange-haired young boy came out of it "Oh and besides that, my team won!"

Ryo, Yukiya and Ayano watched him confused, until the latter asked "What do you mean?"

"Before the assault we bet on how many enemies we would have defeated, right? Wyvern Squad vs Asura Strike Force!" said Ashley showing them a huge grin "Well, my team has defeated more enemies than you."

"Bullshit! You are seven, while we are four!"

Ashley waved a finger at Ryo "Yes, but instead of Alexander, the rest of my team is still using Gloucester, which are older than your machines!"

As the four began a heated discussion on that bet with dubious tastes, Akito once again looked back at the Eiffel Tower and, for some reason unknown to him, he felt a shiver run down his back.

Something was about to happen, he was sure of it. Emperor Lelouch would never ignore a declaration of war of that magnitude, yet the soldier known as Hannibal's Ghost had no idea how the White Emperor would react.

And that scared him more than he would have liked.

* * *

_**[Colombia (Poitier Family's Manor) – 24th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

"When I asked you that favor, I don't think I told you to give all of my son's files to the Emperor, Lloyd." said Joseph Poitier, staring at his computer screen with annoyed eyes.

"Oh I know I know, but we desperately need capable people in our ranks, and new pilots for Knightmares!" replied the smiling face of Lloyd, without a note of shame in his voice "Wouldn't that be a big step forward for your son?"

Joseph scoffed at him "As if you care. You just want to build more machines, but if my son ever accepts the offer, just know that I already have something for him."

"Oooh?" Lloyd's smile was bigger than before "So you kept the blueprints?"

"Of course I did, that project was just a bridge between two inventions, like your Lancelot, but it didn't make sense to get rid of it." said Joseph with another scoff "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Nothing in particular, although I guess you noticed the state of unrest in those areas, right?"

Joseph hardened his gaze "Hard not to notice it..."

The last two hours had been a succession of bad news. First of all, an alarm signal was sent from almost all major cities in Europe under Britannian rule and the maximum alert code was used, which meant that everyone, who had at least one member of their family in the army, would receive the signal of that alarm. The E.U. had decided to declare war on Britannia, just when Lelouch had done everything to stop the conflicts around the globe; however, to make matters worse, the same signal had been sent by several military bases scattered throughout the area south of the Motherland. It was unthinkable that what remained of the E.U. was able to get to the Motherland and attack so many bases at the same time, so Joseph had immediately contacted some old friends who lived in those parts, and what he had discovered had left him speechless.

The Knights of the Round, or rather the former Knights of the Round, all considered traitors by the current Emperor, along with many other members of the imperial family, had returned and attacked the main bases of the army. But what really left him stunned was the fact that most of the soldiers present in those bases had joined them and had easily overpowered the few men who remained loyal to Lelouch, before moving on to eliminate other threats in the area.

In less than two hours, Britannia had lost all contact with the southern states of the Motherland, except Venezuela and Colombia, and with all the states in Europe, except for Portugal, part of Spain and a large slice of Russia, too large for be reconquered in no time. Now, all the soldiers present in Colombia were in a state of frenzy, and unfortunately also the civilians, who had received news of the coup by simpler and more common means. A clear sign that the traitors had not even blocked the simplest ways of communication like telephone lines.

Joseph had no idea what would happen in a few hours but, as a joke of fate, he received his answer when, in the distance, he heard the distinctive sound of an explosion. His head whirled around to his bedroom window, drawing Lloyd's attention.

"Mh? Something's wrong?"

"They are here." Joseph quickly walked over to the window and saw them. There, in the sky, several kilometers away, he could distinctly see the shots of anti-aircraft weapons as they flew across the air, trying to hit countless black dots. In Europia the sun may have already risen, but there the first rays of light had just appeared from behind the horizon and the light was not enough to guarantee him a better view, moreover the manor of his family was very isolated, therefore perhaps it would not have been attacked immediately.

"Lloyd, warn His Majesty immediately! The traitors are invading Colombia!"

The scientist lost his smile, looking at the older man with a serious look "I will, but what about you?"

"I will evacuate my home and head to the Panama border, hoping they haven't completely surrounded us." explained Joseph before ending the call, just when the door of his room was suddenly opened and a boy in his late twenties entered quickly, observing the man with his blue eyes. He was slightly taller than Joseph, with a pretty lean, and unassuming physique, short black hair and two longer strands to frame his face, which created a contrast with the white T-shirt he had worn with the trousers of a black tracksuit, an evident sign that he had just woken up.

"Father, did you see them?"

Joseph nodded "Yes, Claudin, the traitors are trying to conquer the last areas of southern Britannia. I don't know how they managed to be here already, but we have to hurry up and leave. Order all servants to pack their bags and head to the garage. We have three freight truck, they will be enough for everyone."

"It is possible that they will see us. They will never let go of such a convoy." noted Claudin with a cold voice.

"I know, but we can't do otherwise. We will travel as fast as possible to the Panama border avoiding the main roads...also I think they will see the Knightmares all the same." said Joseph while searching for something in his desk.

"The Knightmares?" asked his son with an arched eyebrow "What are you talking about? We don't have Knightmares here. My Vincent Ward is at the military base and if they haven't destroyed it yet, another pilot will have taken it." but his words were soon contradicted when his father threw him a black and blue ignition key.

"The lift in my study on the ground floor. You know where it is, enter it and type four, four, eight, two, five. It will take you to your new Knightmare." said Joseph while typing something on his laptop "Now move, we don't have much time!"

Claudin wanted to ask him several things at the time, but he knew that their lives and those of all their servants were at risk, so he nodded and ran out of the room. After a few steps he saw that some people had already woken up and hurried to explain the situation to them, before telling them to spread the word. He knew that chaos would soon break out, but he didn't have time to handle the situation. During his time in the army it happened that his base was assaulted during the night, but there were always soldiers ready to defend it, while now they were completely uncovered and with only a Knightmare on their side.

Without taking even a minute, he reached his father's office and pressed a button hidden under his desk. Behind him, a library slid forward before moving to the right, revealing a small open elevator. Claudin entered that small cabin and used the code provided by his father, thus starting the lift which began to descend for several meters. The young boy looked at the concrete wall before moving his gaze to the key in his right hand "Whatever it is, I hope it is powerful enough to allow me to defend the others."

When the elevator stopped, Claudin got out quickly and several lights came on when he arrived, showing him a large black Knightmare with blue details, which must have been about seven meters high. Claudin was able to immediately notice the similarities of that machine with the famous Gawain, such as the integrated Float System, equipped with four wings instead of six, what must have been Hadron cannons mounted on the shoulders and the iconic 'ears' with which the head was provided. But there were also differences, such as the thicker arms and the right arm a little longer than the left, with a strange accessory installed on the forearm.

He was visibly surprised to see that titanic machine when his father's voice came from a loudspeaker mounted above the elevator exit.

"**I see you have reached the hangar. Good. The Knightmare in front of you is the Gaheris, it was developed after the Gawain and is the predecessor of the Gareth, but nobody knows that this machine has been completed. There were two other plans for the bridge between Gawain and Gareth: one called Graveth and the other Agravain, but while the former was canceled, I don't know what happened to the latter.**" his father paused for a moment "**Enter inside while I start the elevation process of the platform that will make you emerge behind our manor.**"

Recovering from his amazement, Claudin reached a small ladder and climbed up to the height of the Knightmare's chest, before entering the open cockpit and inserting the key as he used to do with his Vincent. The machine came to life and all the screens inside the cockpit came on as the large platform on which the Knightmare was positioned began to move upward. Taking advantage of that moment, Claudin took a look at the armaments and was not disappointed, although in some respects he was decidedly at a disadvantage. The lack of a Landspinner Propulsion System implied that on the ground it would have been much slower than a normal unit, also the absence of MVS made it practically unsuitable for close combat.

'_I will simply have to eliminate every enemy before it gets too close._' thought Claudin before arriving outside. Preferring not to activate his Float System immediately, he walked around the manor until he reached the garage, from which the three trucks his father had talked about came out and, speaking of his father, he saw him sitting on the passenger side of the first truck. The man saw him and nodded before showing him a radio.

"Claudin, can you hear me?"

"Yes, father. The radio works properly and the rest of the controls too." replied Claudin while kneeling on the ground "Is everyone here? Even my dogs?"

He could distinctly see his father roll his eyes "Yes, they are in second truck. Now, we need to move. Try to fly low, we will travel with the lights off. If someone gets too close, get away from us and then get their attention, do you understand?"

Claudin made his Knightmare nod before hovering in flight a few meters above the ground while the three trucks left with the lights off along the main avenue that would have led them away from their home. Looking around with the simple 'eyes' of his Knightmare, Claudin noticed how the antiaircraft blows had ended and the explosions were no longer audible.

'_Nothing surprising, there were barely forty Knightmare pilots in that city. With the surprise attack they will have had no chance if the enemy can count on more units._' thought Claudin before tightening the grip around the Knightmare controls. The fact that he had to abandon those soldiers without being able to do anything was driving him mad, however he knew that throwing himself against the enemy alone would only lead him to death. Shaking his head, he returned to focus on the road and did so for the duration of that seemingly eternal journey, but which actually only lasted a handful of hours. Fortunately for them, it seemed that the enemies were proceeding with a sort of united front, without trying to surround their targets.

They were being pushed out, Claudin noted by looking at a topographic map on one of the displays inside the cockpit. Apparently the traitors' invasion forces had taken a V-formation, and were pushing anyone who could escape toward Panama, but why? Were they trying to block ground access? It made no sense since Britannia had a hundred aircrafts and a fleet of more than two hundred ships.

"Maybe they are trying to guarantee an access to the rest of the Motherland? Apart from Pendragon and other isolated cities, there are no real fortresses here, since we have never suffered attacks such as to consider them necessary." said Claudin typing something on a keyboard to his right "But do they really have the necessary forces to do this...moreover this coup took place just when our forces in Europia were attacked...this is not a coincidence..."

An acoustic signal distracted Claudin from his monologue, bringing his attention to another monitor that showed him the surrounding area within several kilometers and in those screens he saw a flashing red dot. Looking carefully at the scale shown in one corner of the monitor, he deduced that that signal came from at least fifty kilometers away.

"An emergency sign?" typing something on the keyboard, he tried to contact the convoy below its machine "Father, I just got an emergency signal about fifty kilometers from here. The map does not show that there are military bases in the area."

"And in fact there are none...besides the military, the only ones who could send such a signal would be nobles." said Joseph after a brief silence.

"I'll go check it out. We cannot abandon them." said Claudin, already moving his Gaheris toward the location.

"It's too dangerous! What will you do if there are too many enemies?" asked his father and Claudin slowed down just for a moment.

"I'll see what I can do. Despite not having a Factsphere Sensor, this Knightmare has a very powerful zoom and I will be able to understand the situation immediately, besides..." the Gaheris pointed at something on the left "The border with Panama is near, you can reach it within twenty minutes."

His father said nothing, but then Claudin heard him snort on the radio "Do what you want. Just try not to get caught. I spent a lot of time and money on that Knightmare and would like to avoid losing it so soon."

The young pilot nodded before leaving with the Gaheris, not at all disturbed by his father's words. He knew what kind of person Joseph was, just as his father knew he wouldn't be able to change Claudin's mind. Pushing on the accelerator, he managed to cover several kilometers in a few minutes when he finally managed to see something, so he decided to stop on top of a mound, using several trees as a cover.

'_Let's see..._' he used the zoom of his Knightmare's eyes and raised an eyebrow as he saw several Vincent flying, busy shooting at something on the ground. Looking towards where they were shooting, Claudin arched his other eyebrow when he saw a Gloucester avoiding all the bullets but without returning fire. From what he could see, that Knightmare had a rocket launcher and a Jousting Lance with him, but the pilot didn't seem willing to use them.

"Whoever is piloting that Gloucester knows that it wouldn't make sense to try hitting those Vincent while they are flying. It would be just a waste of ammunition." said Claudin with narrowed eyes "If this goes on, sooner or later the energy of that Gloucester will run out and then it will be over."

Deciding to help that isolated machine, he typed something on a small keyboard while raising the Gaheris's right arm. A detail he had only noticed after getting on board of that Knightmare was that it only possessed the left hand, while the right arm didn't have it, like the Gareth. After checking the armaments of that Knightmare, he finally understood why and it was time to use one of the special weapons of the Gaheris.

In a few seconds, the barrel of the Hadron Cannon, which made up the right arm, stretched several centimeters, showing air vents at the base. Within seconds, the barrel of the Hadron Cannon, which made up the right arm, stretched several centimeters, showing air vents at the base. Making the Gaheris kneel, Claudin then used its left hand to support the entire right arm while he watched the clash that was still going on.

"Five enemies. Judging by their armament I should be at a more than optimal safety distance, however I do not yet know the timing of this weapon." said Claudin before aiming at one of those white Vincent. Evidently they had chosen that color to make it clear that they belonged to Schneizel's faction. Well Claudin didn't care, that color simply made them more visible.

Pulling the trigger, he fired a beam of red energy from his Hadron Cannon, although it was labeled as Hadron Rifle in the list of weapons as the energy beam was faster, thinner and more compact. In an instant, he hit a Vincent's cockpit, destroying it a few seconds later in a cloud of smoke and flames.

The other enemies stopped momentarily, shocked by the sudden death of their comrade, but that moment of stalemate was their ruin because it gave Claudin time to fire two more shots, destroying as many Vincent. The last two remaining tried to recover to face the new threat, but a rocket hit the one closest to the ground, destroying it. The only survivor didn't even have time to turn around to understand what had happened that Claudin killed him with a well-aimed blow to the cockpit.

'_The precision and power of this weapon are of the highest level, but the shot is linear and, even moving the arm, I cannot change its trajectory._' thought Claudin while deactivating the Hadron Rifle '_Now I have had the advantage of the surprise effect, but against prepared enemies I don't know how useful it will be._'

Rising in the air with his Float System, he reached in a few moments the Gloucester which still had the rocket launcher pointed towards the sky and, approaching that machine, he noticed a particular emblem on its shoulders.

"That is the coat of arms of the Odetene family. If I remember correctly, there is only one family member alive." said Claudin before reaching the other machine on a private channel "Are you by chance Shanoa Odetene?"

After a few moments, a screen inside his cockpit came on, showing him the face of a boy, even if he had very feminine features, with brown eyes and short reddish brown hair. Despite his features, Claudin's eyes immediately fell on the large scar that covered most of the boy's throat, who nodded with some hesitation "Yes, I am...thank you for helping me, Lord Poitier."

"Don't call me like that. I am not your superior, we are on the same level." said Claudin before asking "Why are you still here? Your family's castle is located not far from here, but you should have gotten away by now."

"O-Oh...that...well..." Shanoa looked away from the screen but, at the same time, the Gloucester looked back and, at that moment, Claudin noticed a group of people hidden behind a huge boulder. From what he could see they were all foreigners, and some of them were dressed as butlers or maids.

"Are those your servants?" asked the black haired boy with a raised eyebrow "Why are they here? Didn't you evacuate them?"

"Unfortunately I did not have a vehicle large enough for all of them and I did not have time to go and get one...so we decided to proceed on foot since the border with Panama is close..." said Shanoa still looking away from the monitor "But that patrol saw us and immediately tried to eliminate me..."

"I see." Claudin scratched his chin '_My father should be close to crossing the border by now, so I could ask him to send a truck here once it's emptied...but how long would it take?_' shaking his head, he looked back at the Gloucester "For now, make them move, I will join you to protect them but we have to be quick because I don't know how-!"

A huge column of red energy seemed to spring from the sky, hitting the road that led to the Panama border. Shanoa's servants were knocked to the ground by the shock wave and both Knightmares felt the movement of air against their bodies, with Shanoa who stuck his spear on the ground to prevent his Gloucester from being pushed backwards.

It only lasted a few moments, but when it was over, a huge smoking crater was all that remained of the road and nearby trees. Claudin and Shanoa felt a shiver run down their backs as they made their Knightmare look towards the origin of that attack.

"**Ah! Seems like you missed.**"

"**I didn't miss. I wasn't aiming at them.**"

Two machines were flying several meters high, surrounded by at least thirty Vincent. The first, the most massive one, was of a particular violet color, while the second one, more slender and tall, was golden, red, white and blue.

Claudin squeezed the controls of his Knightmare tightly, having easily recognized the two new enemies, while Shanoa looked with surprise at the violet unit.

"**Is that so? Than should we introduce ourselves?**" asked the male pilot of the second unit, pointing a double-edged scythe at Claudin and Shanoa.

"**I don't care.**" replied a bored female voice from the first unit.

Former Knight of Three, Gino Weinberg, and former Knight of Six, Anya Alstreim, had joined the battle.

* * *

Honestly, that wasn't the kind of mission he liked. Attacking military bases at night? Sure, he had done it several times but they had always been enemy military bases. Yet there he was, in the skies of Colombia, intent on blocking two Knightmares and a group of fugitives who were trying to reach the border with Panama.

If it weren't for the Vincent destroyed a few minutes earlier, Gino would have let those people go, even if that strange Knightmare similar to the Gawain was decidedly unusual.

"Hey Anya, why did you target the road and not them?"

"There are civilians behind that rock. The two Knightmare will not move from there, also the black and blue unit looks like a clone of the Gawain. We must capture it and bring it to His Highness." replied Anya from her Mordred with her usual emotionless voice.

"Mh...you may have a point." having said that, Gino lowered his Tristan towards the ground, keeping an eye on the black and blue unit. Judging by its appearance, it was equipped with at least three Hadron Cannons, but there were no MVS visible on the body, it was also much larger than the other Knightmare. When he was a few meters above the ground, but still at a safe distance from the two enemies, he switched to the open channel "Hi! Could you please tell us who you are? And while we're there...you in the black and blue unity, come out and with your hands up!"

When no one answered, Gino chuckled cheerfully "Come on, I'm sure you've recognized my Knightmare by now if you're Britannian soldiers." as the Tristan's feet touched the ground, he again showed them his double scythe "And so you already know that resisting would be a waste of time, but if you think you can do it...that could be interesting."

After a few moments of tense silence, the black and blue unity turned entirely towards him and a cold male voice said "**Claudin Poitie****r****.**" and shortly after, following the example of the larger Knightmare, the Gloucester pilot also spoke, but his voice was decidedly more feeble "**Shanoa Odetene...**"

"Great! Now, regarding the issue of surrendering..." said Gino with the Vincent above him already aiming with their rifles at the two enemy units, with Anya doing the same. However, after several seconds of absolute silence, the Gawain-like unit seemed to come back to life.

"**I have a proposal.**"

"Ooh? What kind of proposal?" asked Gino with clear curiosity in his voice.

The black and blue Knightmare pointed at his Tristan with its only hand.

"**I challenge you to a duel.**"

* * *

It was a stupid idea, he was aware of it, yet it was the only idea that could give him any chance of survival. During that small exchange of words, Claudin had thought of all the possible solutions to be able to get out of the situation in which he had found himself, but they all gave negative results. Shanoa and his servants were still there and he could not abandon them, but even in the possibility that he was left alone, he couldn't have done much against Tristan and his speed.

"**A duel? Now?**"

Good, the former Knight of Three seemed interested in the proposal, judging by his tone of voice. Claudin took a short breath, knowing that he had to be very firm in his words if he wanted to make those behind him survive.

"Yes. Judging by that Knightmare's firepower..." his Gaheris pointed at the Mordred "You could have killed us in an instant, but you didn't. That means that you are interested in my Knightmare or prefer to take us prisoners. Am I right?"

A soft chuckle was heard in the air "**Yeah, you're correct!**"

"Then, fight me in a duel. If you win, I will surrender and no longer resist, but if I win, you will let me and the others leave without following us." said Claudin, knowing perfectly well that this was the moment of truth. If Gino accepted, they had a chance of survival, but if he refused, the situation would worsen within a few seconds.

"**You know what? I accept! This could be fun!**"

'_Perfect! Now, for the last part..._' thought Claudin before speaking again "One last thing. Those civilians behind me are innocent, let them go now, before the duel."

The Tristan waved his empty hand "**Sure sure, they can go away but...**" Gino pointed his scythe at Shanoa's Gloucester "**He can't leave.**"

Claudin said nothing and momentarily looked at the monitor where Shanoa's face was still present. Ever since those new opponents had appeared, he seemed to be in a panic attack or something because, judging from the angle of his Knightmare's head, he had never stopped watching the Mordred. Maybe he had been blown away by its destructive power?

"Shanoa, talk to your servants and send them away. This is their only chance to escape."

His words managed to bring back the younger boy who, after a few moments of apparent bewilderment, nodded and turned to his servants before approaching them. When he was close enough, he opened the cockpit of Knightmare and started talking to him to make them go away, while Claudin returned to focus on his opponent.

'_We both have seventh generation Knightmares...but while my Gaheris has more firepower, the Tristan is faster, can transform and also has at least one melee weapon..._' thought Claudin with a frown on his face before noticing Shanoa's Gloucester approaching him "Lend me your lance please."

However, instead of obeying, Shanoa looked at his opponent for a few seconds "This is a bad match-up for you..."

Claudin was not surprised by his words. It had taken him a few minutes to remember, but months ago he had learned of Shanoa and his victories in duels between nobles, so the younger boy had to know what he was doing with a Knightmare, but the disparity between a simple Gloucester and the monsters that were their enemies was too obvious.

"I know." Claudin opened his Knightmare's hand "But I don't have other choices."

Having no way to stop him, Shanoa handed Claudin his Jousting Lance and, after grabbing it, the older boy approached his opponent.

"**So, are you ready?**"

"Yes."

"**Good!**" as soon as he had said that word, the Tristan sprinted forward with an impressive speed and Claudin had just enough time to raise the lance so as to block the opponent's scythe that would otherwise have taken away his Knightmare's left arm. Taking advantage of the size of his Gaheris, he managed to push his opponent away, but Gino tried again to hit him with a rapid series of attacks that Claudin struggled to parry using only the spear.

After yet another blocked blow, Claudin tried to attack in turn but the Tristan was too fast and managed to avoid his lunge, then trying to cut off the Gaheris' right arm, but Claudin activated the shield of his machine and Gino's scythe could not penetrate it, surprising the former Knight of the Round.

"**Blaze Luminous too?! You sure got a big surprise there!**"

Claudin paid no attention to his words and tried another lunge, but Gino avoided the blow by moving to the left and that was precisely the moment that Claudin was waiting because, after blocking the last attack of his opponent, he had deactivated the shield by moving in the meantime his right arm, which was now perfectly aligned with the Tristan, and a dark red light was already visible inside the muzzle.

Inside his Knightmare, Gino's eyes widened in surprise "Oh shi-!"

A huge beam of red energy was shot from the Gaheris' right arm, destroying countless trees and rocks in its path. The attack lasted a few seconds, but was more than enough to create a devastated expanse in front of that huge machine. Observing the result of his attack for a few moments, Claudin wondered if that move had been enough, but at that moment an alarm sounded inside the cockpit and, before he could react, two huge blue metal blocks hit the side of his Knightmare, causing it to fall to the ground.

Shaking his head due to the collision, Claudin immediately raised the Gaheris, just in time to see what were actually two huge Slash Harkens reattach onto the arms of the Tristan, who seemed unharmed except for the absence of his weapon.

"**Well, I'll give you that! You managed to surprise me!**" said Gino before diving toward him while firing again his Slash Harkens "**But it's time to end this show!**"

Claudin prepared himself to block the two attacks using the spear and the shield, but was surprised when his Knightmare staggered backwards while also losing the spear due to the impact. Noticing a detail of those Slash Harkens, he narrowed his gaze '_Harken Boosters...they have given enough power to stagger even a large unit like the Gaheris, however..._' looking ahead, he saw that the Tristan was already rewinding its weapons but the machine was still distant and Claudin had time to bring his Knightmare's right arm forward, however he was confused when the Tristan raised its hands as if it wanted to grab something.

In that split second, Shanoa's voice rang out inside his cockpit "Above you!"

Following his words, Claudin made the Gaheris look up and was again surprised when he saw the Tristan's scythe falling towards him.

'_I haven't destroyed his weapon. When he avoided my Hadron Cannon he threw it high and then he hit me to make me fall right under his scythe!_' thought Claudin before refocusing on the Tristan which was now really close to his machine, and ready to catch his weapon.

"Wrong move."

Switching weapons at the last second, Claudin activated the two Hadron Cannons installed in the shoulders of his Gaheris and fired with both of them to be sure to hit his opponent, but Gino proved to be an extremely skilled pilot because he managed to transform his Tristan, making it change in its Fortress Mode, before rotating it ninety degrees on its axis, thus avoiding the two rays of red energy that passed to the sides.

Claudin barely had time to widen his eyes in surprise that Gino shot his Slash Harkens again, managing to hit the Gaheris in the chest, making it fall to the ground again. This time, however, it was unable to get up because the Tristan transformed back in its Humanoid Form and, after having grasped its scythe on the fly, landed on the Knightmare still on the ground.

"**So, ready to give up?**" asked Gino with a jovial tone while pointing his weapon at the head of the Gaheris. For his part, Claudin managed to remain calm by activating another weapon of his Knightmare: the four hip-mounted Slash Harkens which hit the Tristan, surprising Gino, but they were unable to destroy it. However, they managed to wrap its arms and chest and, taking advantage of the opportunity, Claudin pushed forward the Gaheris also using the Float System to get up in flight and start to slam his enemy in every direction before he could free himself.

With one last movement of his Knightmare, Claudin crashed his opponent on the ground, creating a large cloud of dust, but when he tried to rewind his Slash Harkens he found them blocked by something. When the cloud of dust began to dissipate, Claudin could see the Tristan with one knee on the ground and several scratches and dents on its frame, however both hands were tight around the cables of his Slash Harkens and it was clear that Gino was doing everything to keep it still.

'_If you want them, you can have them._' thought Claudin while already bringing out the right arm to use the Hadron Cannon, but a sudden warning signal brought his attention to the left just in time to see two white Vincent ready to pierce his Knightmare with their MVS. No longer having a weapon, he prepared to sacrifice the Gaheris' left arm, but at the last second a silver spear pierced the cockpit of the left-most Vincent and Claudin could see Shanoa's Gloucester push even more to hit the second enemy too, which however managed to fly to avoid the attack, only to be hit at zero distance by a missile fired by the Gloucester's rocket launcher.

"**This is a duel!**" said Shanoa on the open channel "**You can't interfere!**"

Mentally thanking the younger boy, Claudin returned to focus on his opponent who had remained perfectly still during that small intermission. However when he tried to use his Hadron Cannon again, Gino fired his Slash Harkens and Claudin managed to grab one with the left hand of his Gaheris and block the other with his Blaze Luminous but, thanks to the Harken Booster, that Slash Harkens was not losing power and two were in a stalemate.

A new alarm rang out inside his cockpit and, suppressing a curse for those constant interruptions, Claudin looked upwards where a high level of energy had been detected, only to see the Mordred ready to fire with its Hadron Cannon.

"**This is taking us nowhere. I'll end it now.**"

"**Wait! Anya, stop it!**" surprisingly it was not Gino who screamed, but Shanoa, catching the attention of the two duelists and the pink haired girl who barely turned her sight to observe the Gloucester.

"**You want to die first? Okay.**"

"**Stop it! It's me, Shanoa! Don't you remember me?**" shouted Shanoa, staring with wide open eyes at the enemy unit as it aimed its Hadron Cannon at him.

"**I remember no Shanoa.**" was the cold reply of Anya and, even if couldn't see him, Claudin could almost feel the look of horror on his face "**So, just die. We have work to do.**"

Anya started to pull the trigger so as to eliminate that old Knightmare, but a sudden beam of red energy destroyed three of the Vincent at her side before moving towards her, completely obscuring her Knightmare from the sight of the others, much to everyone's surprise.

"**ANYA!**"

The beam moved again to destroy another Vincent while the others had already moved away to avoid the attack and, despite being in two opposing factions, Shanoa could not hold a sigh of relief when he saw the Mordred unharmed, surrounded by a construct of green energy. The remaining Knightmares in the sky turned to face the new threat, as did Anya and Gino, with the latter being surprised to see an airship approaching them. It was still a long way off, but the former Knight of Three could very well recognize the shape of a Caerleon-class Battleship and, using the integrated zoom of his Tristan, he could notice the red and white colors of the ship, along with a Knightmare currently standing above it.

"That's the Grandberry...the flagship of the Glinda Knights...which means that..." muttered Gino before finally freeing himself from the Slash Harkens of Claudin. Activating the Float System of the Tristan, he quickly joined Anya in the air, while his former opponent simply stood at Shanoa's side.

"That unit is a Zetland." said Anya on the private channel.

"Yes, I know." nodded Gino with the eyes still on the battleship "And if the Zetland is here..."

A sudden alarm signal caught the attention of Gino who, reacting instinctively, activated his Slash Harkens and then combined them. Using his Tristan's special weapon, the Energy Cannon, he fired an energy beam upwards which was thwarted by another energy beam. The two attacks collided for a few seconds and in the end, when he had rewound his Slash Harkens, Gino showed a small grin upon seeing a unit painted orange, yellow and red.

"The Bradford is here too."

"It's your fault. Now we're outnumbered." said Anya in her usual monotone voice as several red Vincent, equipped with Float Systems, quickly reached them with the Grandberry behind them.

Gino let out a small chuckle "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"**Gino Weinberg, surrender now and you will be granted an impartial judgment.**" said the pilot of the Bradford while lowering his machine so that it was near the red Vincent.

"You know I can't do that, Leonhardt!" replied Gino with a smile "Would you give up in my place?"

"**No, I guess no****t****.**" said Leonhardt with a more friendly voice "**But that doesn't change the fact that both you and Anya are traitors to the Empire.**"

"**By order of the Emperor, Lelouch vi Britannia...**" a strong female voice rang in the air and both Gino and Anya instantly recognized that voice, watching the Grandberry as it stopped in midair "**All traitors must surrender and lay down their arms. If you resist, you will be executed on the spot!**"

The two former Knights of the Round silently watched as a new unit approached the Zetland, still positioned above the Grandberry, and they could immediately notice the similarities with the famous Lancelot piloted by their comrade Suzaku, only that this model was red and golden.

"**Your answer?**" asked the pilot of said unit and Gino would have whistled impressed upon seeing the 88th princess Marrybell mel Britannia piloting such a machine, if only she had not been their enemy.

A drop of sweat ran down Gino's cheek as he watched all their new opponents. Not only did the number of Vincent of the Glinda Knights exceed theirs, but they also had two units almost equal to his Tristan and Anya's Mordred, plus two variants of the Lancelot and one of the Gawain. Things didn't look promising, so he did the only thing that could have saved him and the others. By opening a private channel with Anya and the rest of their allies, he ordered them to withdraw.

"My Lord? But we-!"

"I know that! But we can't win right now." said Gino before slowly moving away with the Mordred as Anya was still aiming with the Stark Hadron Cannon at their enemies who, strangely enough, said nothing about their moves.

"They are letting us go."

"Yes, but I'm not gonna complain. Let's go!" said Gino and, when they were far enough, all the Knightmares turned around and left the zone, leaving the Glinda Knights alone.

During this last exchange, Claudin and Shanoa had remained silent within their respective Knightmare, watching the Glinda Knights as they faced their enemies. Claudin had to admit that Gino was definitely strong with his Tristan, but apparently there were other pilots at his level within the army.

"Are you two okay?" asked a new female voice on their channel and, after turning around, they saw another variant of the Lancelot, painted red and golden, with twelve swords attached to a cape-like appendage.

After a brief silence, Claudin was the first to answer "Yes, we're fine. Thanks for saving us."

"I'm really glad to hear that." said Marrybell before appearing on their screen, surprising both of them "My brother sent us here as soon as news of this rebellion reached him."

"Rebellion?" asked Claudin with surprised eyes.

Marrybell nodded with a grim face "Our brother, Schneizel el Britannia, triggered this rebellion. Many of our soldiers have sided with him and it seems that all the former Knights of the Round are at his side along with other members of our family. As far as we can tell, the whole south of the Motherland has fallen into their hands."

"What? But how...? There are several military bases across the Motherland, how could they have conquered all those in the south?" asked Claudin while gripping with more strength the controls of the Knightmare. He had served in war with many soldiers who had then been moved to the Motherland and all of them were loyal soldiers of Britannia, they would never have betrayed the Empire and its citizens.

"This only serves to make you understand how deep the roots of Schneizel's corruption were." said Marrybell after a brief sigh "Now we must return to Pendragon. Two of our best generals are reaching Panama to create a defense front."

"A defense front...?" asked Shanoa, confused by her words "We...won't try to counterattack?"

The princess shook her head "The emperor is currently rearranging troops. We have suffered a heavy blow today and cannot simply send the soldiers into disarray. For now we will just leave these territories to him, but sooner or later we will reconquer them." she then showed a small smile "By the way, some of my soldiers rescued a small group of butlers and waitresses along the way. They are escorting them to Panama."

Shanoa sighed "Thank you...I was worried for them."

"Don't worry, it was my duty to help them. Now it's better to go, the trip to Pendragon will last at least a couple of hours." said the princess before looking at them with calm eyes. One of her soldiers had already entered the list of possible candidates for the new Knights of the Round, and Lelouch had asked her to be careful of any noteworthy recruits. When they were still too far away to attack, she had observed the duel between Gino and Claudin, as well as Shanoa's intervention to destroy those two Vincent despite using an old Gloucester.

"Maybe I found two possible Knights, Lelouch." said Marrybell with a small giggle before turning toward her airship.

It was time to go home and prepare for the counterattack.

* * *

_**[Pendragon (Royal Palace) – 24th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

Lelouch was tired. No, tired wasn't even a shred of how he felt at the moment. He was completely exhausted. He had been awakened when the sun had not even risen, much to his wife's annoyance, just to be informed that the E.U. had chosen that day to declare war on Britannia and, as if that wasn't enough, a few hours later his brother Schneizel had decided to add his own weight and had triggered a revolution/rebellion in the south of the Motherland.

Fortunately, thanks to Ash's Geass, he had managed to move most of the soldiers loyal to him and return them to their homeland. That part of the plan had been successful, although the idea of abandoning some soldiers had left a bad taste in his mouth. Now, Lelouch was trying to organize his troops in such a way that he could manage a war on multiple fronts and, once again, thanked his mind for the idea of removing the soldiers from Japan, otherwise it would have become impossible to manage everything.

"Your Majesty." said Sebas at his side "I know you are tremendously tired, but I wanted to warn you that the Grand Duke Velaines is here."

"Send him in." nodded Lelouch while adjusting himself in the armchair of his private study. Such a meeting should have taken place in the throne room or some important room, but Lelouch did not have the strength to sit on that throne and, in that modest room, he had all the necessary data to devise a good attack plan. After a few minutes, Sebas knocked on the door before opening it and announcing the arrival of the most important man in Euro Britannia.

The man who was the equivalent of Lelouch in the tributary-empire, entered wearing royal clothes offered to him on his arrival in Pendragon and, when he got up to shake his hand, Lelouch could notice his tired look, very similar to his own.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty." said Augusta while shacking Lelouch's hand "I would have preferred that we could meet in better circumstances, but it seems this won't be the case."

The young Emperor showed him a small smile "I'm afraid that you're right, and please call me Lelouch. I may be the Emperor, but you're on my level in Euro Britannia, so drop the formalities, please."

Augusta seemed surprised by his words, but nodded the same before sitting down in front of the Emperor, sighing heavily "I admit that I haven't been updated on the latest events here in the Motherland so...how bad is it?"

"Very bad. We lost most of our territories in Europia, and thanks to my brother's rebellion, the south area of the Motherland is lost to us." said Lelouch with sigh of his own "We have a large number of soldiers and the Sakuradite is not lacking, but regaining all those lands will not be easy."

Augusta nodded with a grim face before looking at the Emperor in the eyes "Speaking of brothers...can I ask you something?"

"Is it about someone called Julius Kingsley, perhaps?" asked Lelouch and, when she saw him nod, the Emperor showed him a smile so cold that Augusta stiffened instinctively, having recognized that smile.

"Yes, me and Julius are the same person...or rather we are two different people who have shared the same body." said Lelouch, confusing Augusta "All thanks to that bastard of my father..."

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I'm not following you..."

The Emperor chuckled for bit "Of course, forgive me. Please, make yourself comfortable, this will take a while..." and with those words, he began to tell Augusta his story. It took him an hour and more to talk to the Grand Duke about his life, the power he gained with the Geass and many other things and, at the end of his story, Augusta was looking at him with eyes full of bewilderment and surprise.

"I must admit that this is a somewhat...incredible story." said the man with a drop of sweat on the forehead "To think that such powers exist..."

"Yes, I know. It is difficult to believe to such simple words, but unfortunately now I cannot prove anything to you because my wife is still sleeping and Jeremiah has already left to gather troops." said Lelouch with a chuckle before adding "However, I hope that this story of mine can be seen as an auspicious gesture towards our collaboration. I managed to review what you did during your reign and I am of the opinion that you are one of the few nobles worthy of existing in this world."

"Such words are wasted on a person like me...especially after I have left a dear friend of mine to die." said Augusta while looking down with a grim face "Euro Britannia has lost its last Grand Master."

"Andrea Farnese is dead?" asked Lelouch with shocked eyes before sighing "Such a shame...he was a good man and soldier."

"That he was." nodded Augusta before showing a small smile "But it seems that, before he died, he got to pass the torch."

"What do you mean?"

"When they were fighting to defend the Transcontinental Railroad station, Andrea fought together with a young commander and her team and, in the end, entrusted her with his personal Knightmare as well as his sword." explained Augusta with the smile still on his face.

"Really? Then she must have impressed Andrea for making him make such a decision." said Lelouch while scratching his chin "And what's her name?"

"Maria Faraday, she's currently with her unit in the section of the building that you left to them and to the soldiers who came with me." Augusta then added "Are you also interested in her?"

"You can say that." smirked Lelouch before looking at Sebas who quickly handed to him a small tablet and the young Emperor began to read what was actually the file of the girl named by Augusta. After a few minutes, Lelouch nodded satisfied and passed the tablet back to Sebas "Please, find this Maria and lead her to the others. I'm sure she'll have questions, but tell her everything will be explained to her in due course." after a brief pause, he added "Oh and could you please bring us some tea? We may have to talk a lot."

"At once, Your Majesty." nodded his loyal before bowing and leaving the room.

"Good, now that we're done with the simpler things...shall we move on to more serious things?" asked the Emperor with a cold smile and Augusta, for once, matched his smile.

"Do you have a plan for a counterattack?"

"Oh, I've more than that."

Listening to his words, Augusta realized one thing: he was happy that the boy was his ally this time, and he almost felt sorry for their enemies.

Almost.

* * *

While Lelouch was busy talking to Augusta, Sebas was heading towards a wing of the building where the soldiers who had arrived together with Augusta had been made to rest, however after turning a corner, he found himself face to face with princess Marrybell, followed by Oldrin and two guys he had never seen.

"Oh good morning Sebas." said Marrybell nodding at him "Sorry for coming here suddenly but I have to talk to Lelouch about something important."

"Good morning to you as well, Lady Marrybell." replied Sebas with a bow before adding "I'm sorry to inform you that His Majesty is currently having a private meeting with the Grand Duke Velaines who has just arrived from Euro Britannia."

"Augusta is here?" asked Marrybell with surprised eyes "Is he okay?"

"Yes, apparently when the troops of the E.U. attacked Sankt Petersburg, he managed to reach the Transcontinental Railroad that brought him here to Pendragon." explained Sebas with a calm voice before looking at the two boys "May I know who are they?"

Marrybell stepped aside "Oh yes, they are Claudin Poitier and Shanoa Odetene. My Glinda Knights and I rescued them in Colombia while they were fighting some rebels, including the former Knight of Three and Six."

Sebas noticed Shanoa's change of gaze at Anya's mention, but said nothing about it and simply nodded "I see, then both must be skilled pilots if they have managed to resist against opponents of that magnitude."

"Yes, they are." nodded Marrybell with a smile "That's why I wanted to talk about them with Lelouch, since they may be good enough for the Rounds."

This time, both Shanoa and Claudin exchanged a surprised look, a clear sign that the princess had not warned them of her idea. However, now that he was aware of her intentions, Sebas said "If that's the case, then please follow me. I was just going to meet a young soldier who came here with the Grand Duke; she seems to have caught His Majesty's attention and wants me to accompany her to the others."

"Is that so?" Marrybell arched an eyebrow before smiling again "Then she must be really interesting. Would you mind if we join you?"

"Of course not." Sebas shook his head before walking past her. The small group of people walked for about ten minutes before reaching a large wooden door which Sebas, after knocking a few times, opened with just one hand. Entering the large room, they saw it full of soldiers seated at a long table or on armchairs, all with tired and depressed faces. Many of them had bandages or patches in sight and there were two large groups that stood out: the soldiers who wore Britannia uniforms but blue in color with the Euro Britannia coat of arms on their arms, and a less large group with classic Britannia military uniforms but one strange badge on the shoulders.

"Good morning, gentlemen." said Sebas with a short bow, catching their attention. All the soldiers immediately recognized Marrybell's face and hurried to get up and then bow in front of her, but the young princess stopped them with one hand.

"Please don't." said Marrybell with a small smile "You're all tired and can rest as much as you want, however we're here for a particular soldier." she looked at Sebas, who merely nodded before looking back at the soldiers.

"May one Maria Faraday step forward, please?"

After a few seconds of silence, Sebas and the others saw someone advancing from the back of the room and they could hardly not have seen her, because the woman who was approaching them was easily the tallest person in the whole room. When she was a few meters from them, Maria made a short bow, firmly holding the sword received by Andrea Farnese in her left hand.

"That would be me. How can I help you?"

"The Emperor has requested your presence in a special guest room. He will most likely want to meet you later, and will be happy to answer any questions you may have." explained Sebas, surprising Maria and her soldiers, before motioning toward the hallway behind him "Shall we go?"

Maria seemed to hesitate, looking back at her soldiers, but Sebas spoke to her again "Worry not, you'll see them again. Once the Emperor has had the opportunity to speak to you, you'll be able to return to your comrades who in the meantime will be made to rest properly."

Those words seemed to calm her and, turning back to the butler, she nodded before following him out of the room with the others. They walked in silence for a few seconds, until Oldrin turned to Maria "I was wondering...are you by chance a commander, a captain or something like that? You have the rank of sergeant, but I don't think I've ever seen you before."

"I'm the commander of the Storm Riders." explained Maria with a calm voice "You are part of the Glinda Knights, correct? We are part of two completely different worlds, which is why we never met."

Shanoa looked at them for a moment with slightly confused eyes "Different worlds?"

"The Storm Riders are famous for completing a large number of extremely dangerous missions beyond enemy lines. Many generals and army commanders know them by reputation, but do not have a high esteem for them." explained Marrybell, catching the collective attention, except that of Sebas, since he already knew everything about it "On the other hand, the Glinda Knights are an anti-terrorist unit, so we carry out different missions and, unlike the Storm Riders, we can count on the full support of the Emperor since the beginning."

"I see..." not knowing what else to say, Shanoa looked back and the group continued to walk in silence, but after a few steps, Oldrin stopped and the others looked at her confused as she seemed intent on sniffing the air.

"This scent...it's smoke." she then looked at the empty hallway ahead of her "Casval..."

"Bingo!"

Shanoa, Maria and Claudin turned quickly, having heard no one behind them, while Oldrin, Sebas and Marrybell turned more slowly, with the young blonde glaring at the older boy with a cigarette between his lips.

"Yo, nice to see you again, Your Highness." said Casval waving a hand at the princess before looking at Oldrin "You too, shorty!"

"You..." hissed Oldrin with narrowed eyes "You can't smoke inside!"

Casval raised his hands in surrender "Calm down, Oldrin. We have all been awakened with a start only to find that we have lost territories in Europia and also here in the Motherland, not to mention that you and the others have had to deal with the former Knights of the Round. I needed this cigarette."

"Bullshit." growled the blonde girl, folding her arms over the chest "You just wanted to fight against them."

He grinned at her "Can't say you're wrong." then moved his eyes toward the three newcomers "Who are they?"

Marrybell gestured toward the two boys "They are Claudin Poitier and Shanoa Odetene. We found them in the south of the Motherland while they were fighting a group of traitors led by two former Knights of the Round and after helping them, we brought them here."

"Two of those traitors were there?" asked Casval looking at her with a raised eyebrow before showing a small grin "And you're still alive after fighting those monsters?"

"Oh no..." murmured Oldrin, already pressing one hand against her face as her comrade put his arm around Shanoa's shoulders.

"That means you're strong, right?"

Shanoa seemed surprised by his reaction but was unable to respond consistently, preferring to look at the floor "Um...not really...I...I just helped Claudin and..."

"He was just using a simple Gloucester, but he was pretty good with it." added the princess with an innocent smile, getting an exasperated sigh from Oldrin.

'_You're not helping him!_'

"So this is where you were, Casval." said a new female voice, making said boy turn around just to see the calm face of Angelique.

"Oh Angy!" he said waving at the girl, while also ignoring the "Don't call me like that" from her, before asking "Were you looking for me? Also...wasn't your hair purple?"

"I had dyed them for a mission. This is my natural color." she showed him a lock of her now white blonde hair "And yes, there's something you need to see." Angelique then looked at the others and bowed toward the princess "It's a pleasure to see you again, Your Highness. Maybe you should come and see it too."

Intrigued by her words, Marrybell followed her together with all the others and in a short time they found themselves inside a large living room where other people were present and, at a first glance, Claudin, Shanoa and Maria immediately understood that they were soldiers, even if the fact that a child was in that room with them was somewhat strange.

"My dear compatriots..." their collective attention was soon drawn to the huge television hanging on a wall, where Schneizel el Britannia's smiling face was clearly visible "As many of you will know by now, this morning the southern area of our Motherland has been attacked and occupied by hostile forces. I am the instigator of these attacks, and I will not try in any way to deny it, however I want it to be made clear that this series of attacks are not mere terrorist acts."

Schneizel paused briefly and some images were shown next to his face. White-painted Knightmares were intent on patrolling the streets and skies of several cities, while many soldiers were helping injured civilians. In some short films the Knightmares of the former Knights of the Round were also shown, while some defeated soldiers were helped in the same way as the civilians.

"This is a revolution. My little brother, Lelouch vi Britannia, took over the throne after assassinating the previous Emperor. My father always thought that the strong should rule over the weak. I don't think he was right, but ask yourself...do you really want to be governed by someone so young and who would do anything, even assassinate his own father, in order to gain power?" his smile seemed to become sharper and colder "I know that inside you already know the answer and I, together with all those who have decided not to follow a murderer like Lelouch, will ensure that this farce is short-lived."

The transmission was then suddenly interrupted and only static was visible before being replaced by a visibly shaken journalist who began to summarize what happened in the last few hours.

"Nothing like 'I will conquer the world'?" wondered the kid with brown hair.

"It almost seems that he wanted to pretend to be a liberator...but I don't think he will have the desired effect." added an albino while sitting on a sofa.

On his right, a boy with a strange hairstyle chuckled "Especially after Emperor Lelouch has done everything to put an end to the conflicts in the world."

"This is strange, Schneizel would never have done something like announcing his intentions." said Marrybell, catching the collective attention "He must be up to something...but I don't know what."

"Your Highness!" a girl with long ash-brown hair quickly got up to bow her head "I hadn't noticed you."

"Oh don't worry, it's nothing." the princess showed them a small smile before gesturing toward the others "Everyone, these are Claudin Poitier, Shanoa Odetene and Maria Faraday. If my intuition is correct, you will work together from now on."

"I guess a round of presentations is a must! My name is Casval Branstein, but you already knew it. I hope to see you in action soon." said the young man with a grin on his face.

"Angelique De Villepin." she nodded toward them with a smile "A pleasure to meet you."

The small kid waved at them "Azalen Kazen."

Next was the albino who waved at them as well, but with a mechanical hand "I'm Ash Collenor, hope we will get along."

"Yo, name's Rohose Hanbreak! If you want to train or you need poisons, I'm your man!" said the young boy with the strange hairstyle, smiling at them.

"Hello, I'm Charlotte Barentheim." she bowed again with a smile "If you need help, ask me."

"Bianca Frost." said a girl with orange hair before focusing back on her warm tea.

"Sorry about her, she's not a sociable person." chuckled Casval before noticing something "Where are Lucifer and Yami?"

"Lucifer remained in his room even after being notified." said Ash with a light shrug before pointing upward "And as for Yami..."

Looking up, the new arrivals were slightly surprised to see a dark-skinned boy lying on his side above a very tall bookcase that almost touched the ceiling.

Casval laughed for a moment "Well I'll be...! How did he get there without breaking anything?"

"You may be surprised to see how agile that boy is." replied Rohose before looking up as well "Hey Yami, you could at least say hi!"

Said boy looked at them with bored eyes "Hi."

"Talking about bad manners..." grumbled Oldrin with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't mind." Claudin commented before bowing the head to his new companions "A pleasure to meet you all."

Maria nodded at them "Likewise."

"S-Same here." added Shanoa looking away from the group before shifting his gaze toward Azalen "Um...aren't you too young for this...?"

The kid, for his part, slightly narrowed his eyes "I am young, but not too much."

"Sorry..."

"It seems that you will get to know each other rather quickly." said Sebas before looking at the newcomers "I will go and prepare tea for you too, and will inform when the Emperor wishes to speak with you." and with that, he left the room with Marrybell and her loyal knight at her side.

Now alone, the eleven young boys and girls remained silent for a few seconds, until Casval patted Shanoa on the shoulder "So, since you survived the attack of those traitors, would you like to tell us how it went? We haven't received a detailed report yet since we learned what happened."

"You fought against them?" asked Charlotte looking at them with curios eyes, but then Maria shook her eyes.

"I was in Euro Britannia. We were attacked by some black machines."

"Black Knights?" wondered Bianca looking up at her "They attacked you?"

"No, the color scheme was different and they were using mostly Vincent and Gloucester." explained the taller soldier.

Ash arched an eyebrow "Mostly?"

"Their leader was using a huge machine, similar to a Gareth."

"Well, isn't this interesting?" said Casval with a grin "There are so many enemies right now!"

Bianca glared at him "And why would it be interesting? If it weren't for the actions of His Majesty in Japan, we will have enemies on all fronts."

"Well it's interesting for me. More strong enemies to fight!"

"Those like you are the first to die on the battlefield."

"We'll see that, Ice Princess." grinned Casval, ignoring the glare from Bianca.

Before the situation could degenerate, the door of the room was opened again and Lloyd's smiling face peeked inside, observing everyone present with eyes full of joy "Oh! How splendid! So many wonderful devices, all in the same place!"

"Lloyd?" despite being grateful to the mad scientist, Ash couldn't suppress a shiver upon seeing his bespectacled face "What are you doing here?"

"What a silly question! I came to retrieve the fundamental components for my new creations!" said the scientist before opening the door completely, showing to the others a red-eyed boy who looked as if he didn't want to be there.

"Hey there Lucifer!" Rohose waved at him "He got you too, huh?"

"Unfortunately..." hissed Lucifer while looking at Lloyd who merely smiled at him, before turning back to the others.

"Since you're all here, please follow me! I've already warned Sebas about this!"

They looked at each other for a few seconds before leaving the room and following the scientist along the corridors of the building, towards the research area managed by Lloyd.

'_So this is my father's friend._' thought Claudin looking at the back of the Earl of Pudding with calm eyes. He had heard of him on several occasions, especially from his father, but that was the first time Claudin had met him and it was difficult for him to believe that such an...eccentric person could create something like the infamous Lancelot.

His thoughts were interrupted when, together with the others, he seemed to notice something particular in the people they met. They were mostly soldiers, with the occasional servants in the middle, and although the air was full of tension, their faces became full of surprise and awe as they passed by.

'_We are attracting a lot of attention._' he looked at Maria and Azalen '_I doubt it's just because of them...if what the princess said is true...then this group will become the new generation of Knights of the Round, __the swords of the Empire__._'

Being able to join such an important and prestigious group seemed to him almost a dream, yet the idea of being able to protect the Empire in this way made him hope wholeheartedly that that possibility was not a simple illusion.

After a few minutes, the small group of people finally came to two huge metal doors that slowly opened when Lloyd entered a code on a small control panel and, once opened, everyone was surprised to see the technological world that extended beyond that threshold, with technicians and scientists moving from one side to the other, while mechanics and machinery proceeded to assemble several Knightmare.

"Welcome to my kingdom!" said Lloyd looking a them with the smile still on his face "Now please, take these!" he handed to each one of them a small tablet, except for Shanoa "I'm sorry, but I'm still creating the base for your machine since I just received your data from princess Marrybell, while for those two..." he pointed at Claudin and Maria "We're already working on their machines!"

"Oh...um...it's okay! I don't mind, really!" said Shanoa, looking away from the scientist but then he felt a hand on his shoulder and, turning slightly, he saw the disturbing reflection of a light bulb on Lloyd's glasses.

"You don't have to worry, in fact we will collect a lot of data right now with a simulator to prepare a worthy machine as soon as possible!" he then walked away, dragging Shanoa with him.

Shanoa, for his part, looked back with worried eyes and all he saw were some signs of prayer from his new comrades and some blank looks.

'_Am I going to die...?!_'

"Better that way, even if I don't see how someone so shy can become a Knight of the Round." said Bianca while looking at the own tablet, before feeling a dark aura right in front of her.

"Oh I almost forgot!"

A slender hand was placed on her shoulder and, despite her calmness, she could distinctly feel the shiver run down her back when, looking up, she saw Lloyd's smile "You're the one who's afraid of flying, right?"

Slightly surprised by the direct way he had said that, she could only nod with a light tinge of rose on her cheeks. It was a fear she was not proud of, but there was nothing she could do to deny the evidence.

"Perfect!" said Lloyd, surprising her once again "Then you'll love your machine! Allow me!" and with that, he dragged her away with Shanoa.

"Um...should we worry about them?" asked Charlotte looking at the others and, while those like Lucifer and Yami simply stared at her in silence, the others shrugged.

"If you want you could go with Lloyd too...he always wants to collect data." said Rohose with a strained smile.

"I...uh...I think I'll go and look at my personal machine..."

Meanwhile, on the other side of that huge hangar-laboratory, Lloyd stopped in front of a big marquee and looked at Bianca with his usual smile "So, are you ready for this?" she nodded, even if with a little anxiety "Good! It took us a long time to recover it! We thought it was destroyed forever, but we recovered enough parts to be able to recreate it! This is your personal machine!"

With a snap of his fingers, the marquee was dropped to the ground and, while Shanoa looked at that Knightmare with eyes full of awe, Bianca's face was a mask of shock. She knew that machine, since she had seen one almost identical only a few days before, and it was so famous that she could never forget it.

"The Guren?!"

* * *

Lelouch closed his eyes, releasing a long sigh. The last two hours had been quite tiring for him, since he had had to devise an ideal counterattack for his troops together with Augusta, his sister Marrybell and Jeremiah once he returned from his mission. The plan was to his liking even if not definitive, at least until he had a clearer idea of the enemy forces, but for the moment he had to be satisfied.

His sister had also told him about two possible candidates for the position of Knight of the Round and, just now, he had concluded a brief meeting with Claudin. He was a capable and reliable soldier, Lelouch was sure of it, and the Emperor knew that he would become an excellent knight with Maria, who had had a meeting with Lelouch before Claudin.

'_Now, for the last one._' he nodded toward Sebas who went to retrieve Shanoa. Said boy quickly bowed in front of Lelouch, with the look firm on the floor.

"It's an honor to meet you, Your Majesty." said Shanoa with a small voice, and Lelouch immediately understood that the soldier was decidedly shy.

"Raise your head, Shanoa Odetene." ordered Lelouch looking at the young boy "We have much to talk."

Shanoa did as requested but he still could not look Lelouch in the eyes.

Dear God, it was Shirley all over again.

"My sister told me about you and how you fought the rebels, moreover, if the data I received from Lloyd are not wrong, you are also an excellent pilot." said the Emperor, making Shanoa blush a little "Your servants are all former Numbers, but you treat them like normal people and you have decided to protect them instead of abandoning them to their destiny. These actions describe you as an honorable person who can look beyond futile idiocies like racism. I'm pleased to meet someone like you."

"I...I am honored by your words, Your Majesty." said Shanoa bowing again "I just wish other people thought like me regarding foreigners..."

"You're not the only one who wants it, but we'll have time to discuss things like that. Now we must think of more urgent things, and that is, the tragic situation in which our Empire finds itself." the young Emperor looked at Shanoa with sharp eyes "Do you know why are you here?"

"To...to serve you, Your Majesty."

"Exactly, and in a way you never could have thought of. You, along with those you have already met, will become one of my new Knights of the Round." this time, Shanoa looked at him with shocked eyes. He had already known about that possibility, but hearing it from the Emperor himself was still surprising.

"You will be a sword in my possession and a shield for the Empire and all its inhabitants, therefore I expect great things from you. Before taking your deserved rest, do you want to ask me something?"

"I..." Shanoa looked at the floor again, with an undecided face, before shacking his head and shift his gaze back to the Emperor "I'd like to know if you've ever heard of Geass..."

This time it was Lelouch who was shocked and, by his side, Sebas was also surprised by the request, but the Emperor quickly narrowed his gaze and Shanoa felt a shiver run down his back "How do you know that word?"

"I...I heard it from my father...years ago..." answered Shanoa, swallowing quietly his own saliva under the cold glare of Lelouch.

"Sebas."

"At once, Your Majesty." his loyal butler nodded before typing something on a tablet, then handing it to Lelouch.

Quickly reading Shanoa's file, Lelouch raised an eyebrow '_Mh...his family has apparently always oppressed those who were not Britannian nobles and were quite discriminating against Numbers, almost as much as that bastard of my father. His brother thought like him and for this he was sent into exile where he then mysteriously died from an illness..._' judging from the profile of Shanoa's father, the causes of his death were probably not natural, but it was too late to investigate thoroughly '_Shanoa's mother was also on his side and filed for divorce but she was killed because of her choice...later Shanoa killed his father in a duel but was injured in the throat and that's why it is difficult for him to speak...besides the fact that he's shy._'

Shanoa's profile was clean, indeed it was far too clean, but Lelouch already knew that such a boy could not have any connection with the Geass. The story, on the other hand, was different for his father, as thanks to the data they had managed to recover before they were erased, the Odetene family was one of the patron families of the Geass Order. Apparently the economic funds did not come only from the imperial family, but also from many families corrupted to the bone and, who could not contribute with money, contributed in other ways, for example by sending orphaned children for the experiments of that damned V.V.

"It looks like you don't know anything in the end, but I'll answer your question." said Lelouch after passing the tablet back to Sebas "Geass is a power that is found in this world, but at the same time it does not belong to us. Not many people are aware of it and I would appreciate that you didn't go around asking inappropriate questions. When the situation in the world has calmed down, I will explain everything in detail."

"Y-Yes, of course, Your Majesty!" Shanoa bowed once again his head "Sorry for my question..." he then remained silent for a few seconds before asking "Um...may I ask a...a...a favor, Your Majesty?"

Lelouch looked at him with calm eyes. He was shy, yes, but at least he had the courage to go all the way when he wanted.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Anya Alstreim..." said Shanoa with a pained expression on his face "I knew her...we are childhood friends and...something is wrong with her..."

"What do you mean?"

"I...don't really know, but when I met her in Colombia, she seemed like another person...she is not like that!" Shanoa looked, for the first time, at Lelouch right in the eyes "So please, Your Majesty, if the situation arises...send me to deal with Anya. I don't want to kill her, I want to save her."

A strange silence descended on the throne room, while Lelouch watched with disbelief the kneeling form of Shanoa. After a few minutes, despite his self-control, the Emperor burst out laughing and could not stop for several seconds, until, after a deep breath, he returned to look at Shanoa with an amused smile "You're really an interesting person, Shanoa Odetene! Very well, I'll accept your request. If Anya Alstreim is spotted in a war zone, I will send you to face her, however..." his face turned deadly serious in a split second "I hope that your desire to save her will not compromise the soldiers who will fight with you."

"I will not allow them to die from my desire. I sweat it on my mother's grave, Your Majesty."

"Then we're good, you may go now." said Lelouch with a small smile "Once out of here you will find a waitress who will accompany you to my personal tailor and then to the blacksmith."

"The...blacksmith, Your Majesty?" asked Shanoa with confused eyes.

"But of course..." Lelouch's smile was still on his face "After all...what is a knight without a sword?"

* * *

_**[Toromo Agency's Base (Argentine) – 24th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

"Glad to see that you are all well." said Schneizel looking at a big screen, where the faces of his knights and siblings were shown "Have you had any problems?"

"Not really, Your Highness." said Gino before adding "Just a little encounter with the Glinda Knights near the border between Colombia and Panama."

"Yes, I read the report. You also mentioned a unit similar to the Gawain." replied the White King, surprising some of the knights.

"A Gawain?" asked Suzaku.

"Yes, or at least it was similar to it." explained Gino while thinking back at that machine "It was black and blue, very big and it was similar to the Gawain, but with some details taken from a Gareth."

"A hybrid maybe?" wondered Monica but Cornelia shook her head.

"A prototype. Maybe for the Gareth itself."

"You may be right, dear sister." nodded Schneizel with a smile "After the Gawain, three projects were created in order to devise a mass production model. One was closed almost immediately, while the other two were left unfinished...or at least that's the official version."

His half-sister arched an eyebrow "And the unofficial version?"

"Project Agravain and Project Gaheris were completed, but both units were too powerful for a simple soldier, however the two prototypes disappeared and nobody saw them anymore." the blonde prince looked at Gino and Anya "Until now."

"So they were hiding a prototype unit? It was very strong, why would they do that?"

"Who knows? What matters is knowing that Lelouch can now count on such a unit and will likely entrust it to the Glinda Knights or one of his royal guard." Schneizel leaned back on his armchair "We will proceed as planned, get ready for a possible transfer. If things go wrong in Europia, you will be sent there to help."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

In a few seconds, only Cornelia's face remained visible on the screen "That speech of yours, was it really necessary?"

"Yes and no. I could have stayed in the shadows, but Lelouch could have taken advantage of it to paint me like a super villain who came out of some comic book." replied Schneizel with a light chuckle "While, telling the people what I intend to do, I planted a small seed of doubt in their minds. It probably won't have any effect, but now Lelouch has fewer options to maneuver with me, especially if his subjects are divided between regaining the Motherland or wiping out the E.U. once and for all."

"I see, what about Damocles?"

"It will be ready by the scheduled date, so hold on a little longer." the White King then added "Oh but if you think your soldiers can stand alone, feel free to come back here. Nunnally refuses to eat if you're not there."

A pained look was visible on Cornelia's face for a split second, but she nodded eventually "I'll see what I can do. If all goes well, I'll be back there tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow then." nodded Schneizel before ending the call. After a brief pause, he looked back at his desk, where several documents were waiting for him.

"Ah paperwork, even for someone like me, it's still a bane..."

As the White King resumed signing those papers, a small meeting was taking place in an isolated area of his base.

"So, everything is ready?" asked a female voice from a radio.

"Yes, we know were Nunnally is." replied an amused male voice "At your signal, we will detonate the charges and take her away with us."

"Very good." she seemed pleased "Be ready. The moment is near."

Putting the radio away, the man walked away.

A red Geass symbol shining in his red eye.

"And now..." he showed a sick grin "We wait."

* * *

_**[Pendragon (Royal Palace) – 25th August 2018 a.t.b.]**_

Dark clouds covered the sky that morning, while a light wind blew from the east. The sky probably mirrored the mood of many soldiers, all gathered there to be able to hear the words of the Emperor.

Lelouch was there, standing on a small stage, wearing a particular golden and white pilot suit to which a cloak was attached and, behind him, the Mahoroba Type-0 was kneeling dormant, ready to be activated. On his right, Augusta was wearing royal clothes, looking ahead of him with firm eyes, while on his left was his wife, for once serious and with the attitude of an Empress, also wearing a pilot suit similar to that of Lelouch and, behind Cera, her trusty Lancelot Frontier was ready to get up in flight.

The vision ahead of them was breathtaking. Hundreds of soldiers, all ready for war, aligned more than perfectly, with several dozen of Vincent Ward and Gareth in the rear, all kneeling on the ground. Above them, several airships were floating in mid-air and, first of all, there were the Avalon and the Grandberry, the Glinda Knights battleship.

Speaking of that ground, in front of the imperial couple, on the right, Marrybell was with all her soldiers, all ready to move with her. They were not many, but they were easily recognizable by their red uniforms and, despite the limited number, they were among the most determined in the whole army. At their side, there were all the soldiers returned from Euro Britannia, or at least those who had been attacked by enemy forces; in fact even at that time, Portugal and Russia were the last bastions of Britain in the Old World, still fighting against their enemies.

Moving his gaze to the left, Lelouch looked satisfied at all the members of his royal guard, ready to execute his orders down to the letter, led by Jeremiah, perhaps the most determined person among all the soldiers gathered there, and his second in command, Clementine.

Despite that huge pool of forces, there was not even a journalist; no camera present for an event of such importance. Lelouch had made that decision after his brother's speech. If Schneizel wanted to change his rules and show his cards, then Lelouch would have acted in reverse, discreetly and obscurely. Since all those present were all soldiers extremely loyal to him, the odds that his words could be heard even by his enemies were non-existent.

Taking a deep breath, Lelouch looked again at the soldiers in front of him. It was time.

"Our Empire is no stranger to war. Under the rule of my predecessors, this Empire has known only war. In the past, we fought for Sakuradite. We fought to conquer lands. We fought for the rotten desire to oppress others. Those days are now over, because an Empire that knows only war will never know peace! My desire was to end all conflicts, to be able to create a free world, with no wars...a world long desired by my sister. But it is clear that in this world there are people who yearn for war, and yesterday they made it clear to us. They made us understand that, as long as people like them exist, this Empire...no, this world will always and only know war!"

He threw his arm out theatrically, keeping the attention of all the soldiers on himself.

"The E.U. attacked our cities, killed our compatriots and took back its lands with the mere force of weapons and death, without even attempting a peaceful approach! My brother, Schneizel el Britannia, and all the traitors who decided to follow him, attacked their own Motherland to bring the war back to this Empire! They don't yearn for peace, they want chaos! Do you believe that, once conquered Portugal and Russia, the E.U. will consider themselves satisfied? No! They will also march on African territories and perhaps even extend eastward!"

Lowering his arm, Lelouch let his gaze wander over each soldier present and it was evident that he felt not only anger at the moment, but also sadness.

"Soldiers, what I ask of you now is not an easy thing, but it is necessary. If we are to create a peaceful world, free from any war. If we are to live long enough to see the seasons change, our children grow and experience a time of real peace that we have never known...then there's only one option left for us: attack."

With the tension that was now palpable in the air, the Emperor began to walk slowly on the stage, feeling everyone's eyes fixed on him.

"We will march on our own Motherland, we'll fly to the Old World, where the roots of corruption and war are deep...and we will eradicate them! This is the day we will forever erase the shadow of war from our minds! This is the day that we correct the course of this world history!"

Stopping again in the center of the stage, Lelouch looked at the crowd ahead of him, but specifically he kept his eyes focused on the end of the corridor that divided the two huge groups of soldiers. In the silence that followed his words, everyone could hear various sounds, rhythmic and precise. Slowly, the assembled soldiers understood that someone was advancing along that corridor and the few men who had the courage to look in that direction, immediately looked back ahead, intimidated by the pressure that hovered around a small group of hooded people.

They were all different from each other, made similar only by the large hooded cloak that hid their bodies. Some were tall, while some were shorter, with one in particular who looked as tall as a child, yet the tension in the air seemed to increase exponentially as they passed. Advancing in total silence, those twelve figures arrived in front of the stage and lined up side by side, forming a perfect line. As one, they moved their cloak with their left arm, showing the sword hanging from their belt and, with their right arm, those hooded figures drew their weapons.

_The first was dark gray, with a black cross guard and a handle of the same color._

_A rapier was the second blade, silvery and with an intricate golden guard._

_Green gems adorned the cross guard of the third sword, the blade of which was sprinkled with thin incisions._

_A red and golden grip under a red guard was the base of the fourth blade, wider than the others._

_The head of a dragon was the pommel of the fifth sword, whose bone was blood red._

_The sixth sword had a particular cross guard formed by the wings of a crow, with a silver blade._

_A golden circular guard was visible on the seventh sword, as well as a long and sharp blade._

_The eight was the shortest blade, yet it was the sharpest, without guard and with a black handle._

_Golden ribbons were tied to the pommel of the ninth sword, whose guard was the head of a lion._

_A katana was the tenth sword, with a gray handle and a wolf engraved along the blade._

_A sapphire shone in the center of the guard of the eleventh sword, with a blue and black handle._

_Golden eagle wings were the guard the last sword, the blade of which appeared to be made of crystal rather than steel._

Observing with firm eyes those twelve figures, as they knelt with the blades pointed downward and both hands on the grips, Lelouch started talking again.

"This Empire would not have lasted long without its army, without its knights, and today you are all called to protect your home once again. My Knights of the Round, you are the swords in my hands to defeat Britannia's enemies. You are the shield of the Empire, which protects its citizens from this corrupted world!"

Spreading his arms outward, Lelouch put all the emotions he was capable of into his words.

"Soldiers of the Holy Britannian Empire, my loyal Knights of the Round...go forth and bring back the hope for a peaceful world!"

Like one man, all the soldiers in front of him came to attention and their voices, combined with those of the new Knights of the Round, made the earth tremble like powerful thunders.

"**YES, YOUR MAJESTY!"**

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**~ Next Chapter: D-Day ~**

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**A.N: Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed this new chapter! It took me a while to finish it (my job took me a long time) but I think you can understand it easily, since it is forty-five pages. Nothing absurd, but it is something. We got to see the last OCs that have joined the Knights of the Round and now the war can finally begin! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! The twelve swords at the end, I "created" all of them, but if any of the OC owners wanted to change it, let me know, I will immediately modify the file!**

**I don't know when I will be able to publish a new chapter, also because other ideas for new stories have come to my mind and I must try to contain myself! I still hope to know what you think of this chapter in your reviews, plus a cookie goes to Lordban and Doomajor for guessing who I was inspired by for the Smilas speech in the last chapter but...can you guess the Lelouch speech from what was partially inspired ?**

**Having said that, I salute you and see you next time! I also hope you will forgive any typos, but in 45 pages, I may have missed something!**

**That's all for now, may your day be perfect!**


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